Feuded Love: Transgressions
by Leo-Blazer
Summary: Sequel to "Feuded Love". After the events of FL, life has seemed to have changed for the better for both Aaron and Silvia. But, unknown to either of them, someone is out to make sure things don't stay that way. Feudshipping aka ZangooseXSeviper.
1. Enter Team Poison Claw!

_Well, here it is! After over two months of trying to recover what I had lost, I finally present you with the sequel! This story will focus more on the action/adventure then the last, but still expect some Feudshipping to be thrown in here and there! Actually, I was rather reluctant to post this, as it's a well known fact that many sequels never do as well as the original. _

_One thing I should mention though, is that I decided to change venues and make this a PMD like fic. In doing so, I gained more characters as well as locations. Spoilers (if any) will be very few, so I wouldn't worry if you haven't played it yet. Now that's done, and without futher ado, I give you... FL: Transgressions!_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

The Dark Crater, an abysmal cavern of magma and stone. If the constant high temperatures weren't enough to keep you away, then its very reputation would. For over a year ago, Dark Crater was the lair of the insidious Darkrai, a Pokémon of nightmares who plotted to enshroud the world in darkness. He was eventually defeated, before attempting to escape through a time warp. What happened to him after that has never been answered. Some say he was destroyed, while others say he's still alive, waiting, watching, biding his time until the perfect moment to strike. Nevertheless, not many go near the place.

"Look out!" The usually quiet atmosphere was quickly shattered as the sound of fighting began to echo through the caverns. The source of the sound was from a single room near the back of the dungeon. In the center of this room, two beings stood. The first was a Zangoose, an almost solid white furred Pokémon with a pair of claws extended from each paw. Like most Zangoose, several patches of his fur were a bright red color, looking like wounds from a long ago battle. One thing that made this Zangoose standout was a large, sickening scar parting the fur on his neck. Next to him stood a female Seviper, her black scales seeming almost orange in the flames of the cavern. Like the Zangoose, her long body was also covered purple colored markings resembling injuries from long ago. What appeared to be a satchel was slung on her back, as well as a gold ring right under the blade on the tip of her tail. Both of them were surrounded on all sides by a ring of fire Pokémon.

Rushing from the pack, one of the Arcanines charged the black serpent. Quickly slither past him; she wound her way up his body before coiling herself tightly around the fire wolf's neck. The Arcanine began to struggle and thrash as his air supply was cut off. As she tightened her grip, she turned to her partner. "You just had to rush in, didn't you Aaron?"

The Zangoose known as Aaron leapt back to avoid a Combusken's kicks, before shoving it back with a swift kick of his own. "Come on Silvia, how was I supposed to know there was a "Monster House" right around the corner?"

A loud thump filled the air as the Arcanine passed out, with Silvia calmly slithering off it's now unconscious body. "You could have waited at least!" As she spoke, she barely avoided a Camerupt as it charged. Missing its target, it continued on until slamming against the far cavern wall. The force of the impact left a sizable crater in the wall, as well as knocking the Camerupt out. As Aaron and Silvia continued fighting back the advancing horde, neither of them noticed a Slugma as it launched a Flamethrower towards them.

Aaron saw the attack mere seconds before it was upon them. He quickly shouted, "Duck!", before they both hit the floor, the stream of flame passing over them. Silvia pointed with her tail to a fire red object on the other side of the chamber.

"Let's just get what we came for and get out of here!" Not needing to be told twice, they both raced across the room. Silvia quickly slithered past most of the enemy Pokémon, with Aaron to take care of any in their way. In less than a minute, they reached the site of the object they were seeking. It was a fire red stone with seemed to give off a calming glow. The sound of crackling fire averted Aaron's attention, as he saw a vortex of fire shoot across the room towards them.

"Hurry!" Grabbing the stone, Silvia stuffed it into the satchel on her back, just as Aaron grabbed a badge off his fur. With a press of a yellow button, a ring of yellow light surrounded the two of them, before they both disappeared mere seconds before the fire struck where they had once been standing.

* * *

At the same time, an identical ring of light appeared in front of the entrance to the Dark Crater. Seconds later, the grass inside the ring crumpled as Aaron and Silvia reappeared just as the light dissipated. Placing the badge back on his fur, Aaron proceeded to dust the volcanic ash from his body.

"Well, that went well."

"Uh, Aaron?" He turned to Silvia, who looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter.

"Yeah?"

"Your tail's on fire." Glancing behind him, he saw that the end of his tail was indeed engulfed in flame. Like any in this situation, he started panicking. Silvia couldn't help but laugh as she watched her friend run back and forth, before rolling on to the ground to try and extinguish the fire, getting his fur even dirtier. In-between laughs, Silvia reached into her bag and pulled out an engorged Drought orb they had used in a previous dungeon. Clamping it in her mouth, a wide crack began to run down the side of the orb, before a huge stream of water shot forward, the force of which almost pushed her back.

Aaron had less than a second to react, before he was violently pushed back by the sudden flood. The force of the water shoved him against a nearby rock, as the water continued to ram against him. After a moment, the torrent stopped, as the now soaked Aaron slid from the rock. He glared at Silvia through the fur dangling over his eyes.

"Thanks a lot." The sarcasm was clearly visible in his voice.

Silvia spat the remains of the drought orb from her mouth before responding. "Well, sorry for extinguishing you tail..."

"...And getting me completely soaking wet!" Like a dog, Aaron shook his body dry, only now he looked like a walking fluff ball. As he began to comb down his fur, he once again picked the badge up from its usual spot.

"Find the Fire Stone in Dark Crater...done. Now, I think it's about time we headed back."

"No arguments here. This bag is weighing me down from all the stuff we picked up. Speaking of..." Reaching into the pack, she pulled a Big apple. "...Hungry?"

"Thanks." Was his response as he caught the apple she tossed to him. Taking a bite, they both started the trek back to town.

As you may have guessed by this point, this is not normal. Never in history has a Zangoose and Seviper never been fighting. The two have been mortal enemies since the dawn of time, both of them going into a frenzy at the very sight of the other species.

But for these two, that was not the case. The two of them had met and become friends at a young age, a time before the dreadful transformation into adulthood known as the Marking. It was during this that they both discovered that the Marking not only changed you physically, but mentally as well, as if to ensure that there would never be peace among them. Silvia and Aaron had barely escaped its dark grasp on their minds, but not before almost killing each other in the process. But, that soon proved to have been the least of their worries.

Not even two days later, Aaron had almost died at the hands of his own brother, Zack. Zack had lost all sanity, and would have went on to kill the rest of his family if he hadn't have been stopped. Upon seeing her friend almost die, Silvia had snapped, killing Zack in a blind rage before coming to her senses. As if by bad luck, a Zangoose hunting crew appeared almost immediately afterwards. They accused Silvia of murder and had prepared to kill her as well, if Lark, their Swellow friend, hadn't intervened. He had flown with them until they had landed on a cliff over-looking the sea. Neither of them had seen him since.

That had been four months ago, and the only thing they had left to remember that day was the scar on Aaron's neck, a "gift" from his late brother. In that time, the two of them had formed a rescue team named "Poison Claw" (Silvia had wanted to name it Serpentine). Not only that, but their team had become a little famous. Not just because of their ranking or the missions they took, but because they were the only known Zangoose and Seviper who could get along! But not everything was positive, especially from their own species. Most other Zangoose or Seviper called them traitors or freaks, but they just ignored them and continued to take on missions.

As the two of them walked through the almost barren landscape, Aaron was checking their progress on his rescue badge. The badge had been recently upgraded, so now it not only returned you to the dungeon entrance, but it also helped them keep track of their missions, monitor their account in Duskull's bank, as well as check the team rankings against other teams in real time.

"After that last mission, we're about 250 points away from the Diamond rank. We also went up from rank 256 to rank 252 out of over 400 different teams."

"What's our schedule for when we get back to town?"

"Let's see...we took five missions. Two were criminals we apprehended, so that means a visit to office Magnazone. After that we get paid by that little Pidgey who asked us to escort him through Amp plains. Why, I have no idea. Once that's done, we have to deliver the Sleep seed to that insomniac Kirlia, the red Gummi to Nidorino and the hard to find Fire stone to that Vulpix so she can evolve into a Ninetails."

"Busy day. Don't forget we also need to sell the stuff we found."

"How could I forget? It seems we make more off selling the stuff we find on missions then the missions themselves."

"Well, a lot of this stuff is rare, so some are willing to pay a high price for them. Not to mention the dangers we had to go through to get them."

"Dangers? What kind of dangers can you expect from Oran forest?"

"I meant places like The Dark Cater."

"Whatever."

"Speaking of money, how's our account looking?"

"According to this...our account has grown to about 10000 PokeDollars."

"That's it? I thought there was more."

"Well...I may have moved some to get something."

"What you get?"

"It's a surprise."

"Come on, what is it?"

"I'm not telling."

"Just a hint?"

"Nope."

"Come on! "

"You can ask, but I won't tell."

"Please?"

"No."

This conversation would continue during both the walk and ferry back to town. A two hour walk and ferry back to town...

**End Chapter **

_Well, how was it? Reviews are greatly appreciated!_

_- Leo-Blazer_

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	2. The Many Faces of Treasure Town

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Once they had returned to town (and Silvia had stopped pestering Aaron for answers), they decided to split up in order to accomplish more. Aaron would take their pack and sell the things they had found while on their missions, while Silvia would go and collect the rewards and deliver any such items for the mission's clients. As Aaron headed for the shop, he thought about how things had changed since he and Silvia started living here. Before, his sickening scar would have caught everyone's glance, but now the only glances he received were from friendly faces, a few which he waved back to. The only look that wasn't friendly belonged to Claw, the Zangoose leader of Team Razor Wind.

"Hey, traitor!" Aaron didn't even turn his head as Claw yelled out to him. Since day one, Claw had shown a deep dislike for Aaron, especially when Silvia was around. When Aaron failed to respond, he only became angrier.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Claw's outburst caused Spike and Scythe, Claw's Sandslash and Scyther teammates, to look up from the map they were currently trying to decipher. Unlike their leader, they didn't have any ill will towards either Aaron or Silvia. The four of them had actually hung out before while Claw was out on a solo mission.

When he once again failed to receive a response from Aaron, he bared his claws and charged. Or, he would of charged, if he hadn't of been stopped by Scythe and Spike, who were both struggling to hold back their enraged leader.

"Easy Claw! Calm down!"

"Yeah, if Officer Magnazone sees you..." Spike was referring to the head of the Magnemite police force, jokingly nicknamed by his subordinates as "The Grill Master". The last time Team Razor Wind had to sit through one of Magnazone's rants, their ears had been ringing for days afterwards.

"I don't care! This traitor's got it coming!"

Aaron didn't even glance behind him at the struggling team as he walked by. Random bouts of anger were widely known among the Zangoose, though some were capable of having such short fuses that it didn't take much to set them off. Claw was one example of such a Pokémon. Leaving Scythe and Spike to deal with their enraged leader, it didn't take Aaron long to reach the Kecleon Brother's store. The green Kecleon brother was currently busy with a customer, so that just left him with...

"Hey Bro!" The purple Kecleon seemed almost exited to see him. For some reason, he always referred to Aaron as "Bro", despite the fact that neither of them had anything in common. It also never failed to cause Aaron to cringe every time he was referred to as such though. After all, it had been his brother who had almost ended his life all those months ago.

"For the last time, stop calling me that!" Pulling the satchel off his back, he dumped the bag's contents onto the counter, which consisted of berries, Seeds, several orbs and a TM or two, as well as a few chests. Collecting anything that was worth keeping, the chests included, he stuffed them back into the bag as he waited for the Kecleon to process the items.

"Alright then, _Bro_." The purple lizard smiled as Aaron once again cringed, before going over every item on his counter. He checked any for cracks, dents or signs of damage or previous use. After a minute or two of examining each item, the purple lizard quickly collected several piles of currency from a bag he kept under the counter, before exchanging the two.

"Let's see. Your total comes to...1648 PokeDollars."

Aaron took one look at the pile of money in front of him, before glancing up at the storekeeper with a look in his eyes that said _"You sure?"_ The purple Kecleon brother was known for trying to swindle his customers whenever he had the chance, which had led Aaron to start calculating the price of any items beforehand. After doing a quick add up in his head, the scarred Zangoose collected the pay and quickly placed it into a small pocket on the side of his bag. As he turned around to leave, he heard the Kecleon brother behind him respond "Thank you, come again!"

_Why does that sound oddly familiar?_ He quickly brushed it off as he stepped up to the store just across from the Kecleon Brother's. It was a small store, mostly consisting of a single person tipi and the store counter. It was run by a Xatu named Zant who was...well, a little weird, to say the least. Before Aaron could even get a word out, the eccentric bird raised its wing as if to silence him. This was soon followed by a few more flaps of his wings, almost in a rhythmic fashion, as Zant chanted something under his breath. After a few moments of this, he abruptly raised both wings above his head, let out a single "HA!" before lowering them slowly to his sides.

"What is it...you wish for me to do?" Even after seeing the odd Xatu do something along these lines each time he walked up to his counter, it never failed to leave the Zangoose speechless, as it did for most of the bird's customers.

"Uh...yeah. Can you unlock these for me?" Reaching into the satchel slung over his shoulder, he pulled out four chests: a Sparkling chest, a Dubious chest, a Cool chest and a Heavy chest (which, as it was named, was really heavy!), as well as enough to pay for all four to be opened. Zant took one look at the chests, before scooping the Heavy, Dubious and Cool chests in his wings and placing them on a circular mat in the center of his store. With that, Zant stood over the small boxes, lifted his left leg into the air and...

...started to dance around them. As he did this, he was once again chanting something under his breath. He circled the chests once. Then twice. Upon finishing a third rotation, he leaned down and gently tapped his beak against the Heavy chest three times. On the third tap, whatever magical forces keeping the box locked seemed to vanish as it sprang open. Zant soon did the same for the Dubious chest, as well as the Cool chest. Again, the once locked lids sprang up like a key had been turned. The treasures consisted of a Foe-Fear orb, a purple Gummi (Silvia's favourite) and an Eevee's tail (which was really just a lock of Eevee fur, not an actual tail). Grabbing the final locked box off the counter, the odd psychic bird repeated his strange dance once again, before tapping his beak against the lid. Instead of springing open though, the box slowly creaked open. As it did so, a bright light seemed to erupt from within, causing Aaron to raise his arm infront of his face to block the light. When it finally dissipated, Zant had already placed the treasure from within the chest onto the counter.

It was a TM. Technical Machines, TM's for short, were small, silver capsule-shaped objects with a single circular screen. Usually, TM's were nothing of interest to Aaron, but there was something about this one that was just...different. He had found a few on missions before, selling them almost immediately after returning to town, not even bothering to check what they were most of the time. It had been a TM after all, that had allowed his murderous older brother, Zack, to learn Aerial Ace, a move that he had joyfully used to almost end his younger brother's life. His father, a Zangoose once named Colt before losing his right eye to a rival Seviper, had said that using a TM was a sign of weakness, only used by cowards.

Still, Aaron remained almost hypnotized by the small object. As he picked it up from the counter, the TM's screen suddenly changed color from red to green. Each TM was programmed with the DNA of every Pokémon capable of learning the move contained inside, which changed colors from red to green or back again to signify if it could be used by the recipient. The green screen meant that whatever attack it was, a Zangoose like Aaron could learn it. Taking one last look at the silver object still clenched in his paw, it was quickly shoved into a side pocket as Aaron headed towards the last place on his list: The Kangahskan storage unit.

The storage unit was basically a large cavern dug far underground. Though mostly used by Rescue teams to store the immense amount of items collected during missions, it had been known to be used by regular citizens of Treasure Town from time to time.

"Hey Liz! You here?" Aaron's voice echoed along the walls of stone and earth. Lizabeth, Liz for short, was the owner of the storage unit, having been passed down to her by her mother many years ago. Seen as a motherly figure throughout town, Liz was one to give advice when needed, as well as having an acute sense to detect when one of her customers (who she also had a habit of getting to know almost like family) were troubled by something.

Aaron was about to call out again, when the sound of heavy footsteps reached his ears from within the structure. Moments later, Liz emerged from the darkness of the cavern. She looked like she had currently been doing inventory, as her clipboard was clamped tightly in her grip. Looking up, she smiled as she caught sight of him.

"Ah, Aaron. So good to see you. Any particular reason for this visit?"

"I'm here to check something out."

"Of course you are. Let me see if I can find the list for-"

"Actually, it's nothing from my regular safe."

A strange glint seemed to appear in Liz's eyes. "Oh, you mean "that" item." She chuckled at this." Well then, follow me." Turning back around, she headed right back into the depths of the cavern, with Aaron right behind her. After a minute or two of passing row after row of storage drawers, they finally reached what appeared to be a dead end. Looks soon proved to be deceiving, as Liz reached out to grab a single boulder, pulling it cleanly from the wall. Hidden beneath the large rock was a single safe, though this safe was different then all the rest, as it possessed not one, not two, but three different locks, all only unlockable by Liz herself. It was the most secure place to hide something, so Liz charged a hefty fine for it, but many considered it worth the price.

The first lock was a simple key lock, the key being hung around Liz's neck at all times. The second was a combination lock, with the code a strict secret of course. The third lock was the most mysterious, as no one knew how Liz actually opened it. She just seemed to stare at it for a moment, before the large lock seemingly opened itself. Not even Zant the lock expert knew how it worked, which only added to the security.

With a turn of a key, clicking of the dials (and whatever was needed to open the third lock) later, the metal door slowly swung open. Reaching in, the Kangahskan pulled out a single object before slamming the door shut with a loud bang and a click as it relocked itself. "Here you are."

Aaron seemed almost nervous taking the item from her. Whatever it was, it remained hidden beneath a layer of wrappings and a cross of string, though it appeared to be rectangular in shape. He stared at it long and hard before asking, "You think she'll like it?"

Liz's smile only widened. "Honey, it wouldn't matter what you got her. As long as it's from you, I guarantee she'll like it."

"Thanks Liz." Quickly adding the item to his bag, he left without another word, hoping to get home before Silvia. Liz sighed as he left.

"Ahh...young love. Is there anything sweeter in the world?"

* * *

It wasn't often that a new store appeared in town. Whereas most of the buildings in town were mostly necessities such as the store and bank, this new place was designed purely for something to do in your spare time that wasn't training. It was called a tea shop, but many considered it more of a bar, especially considering Pokémon made beverages were capable of being at least twice as alcoholic as regular drinks.

Silvia had quickly become a regular customer shortly after opening day. Apart from her, the only other patrons were a rather tipsy Sneasel, and a Kadabra meditating in the corner while sipping his herbal tea, same order as Silvia.

"Slow day huh?" Silvia was speaking to the bartender behind the counter, a middle aged female Blaziken named Pheon, who was also the owner. Little was known about her life before she came to Treasure Town, which she continued to ensure remained unknown. Her and Silvia had become friends after the purple marked serpent had become, what Pheon called, "Her best customer".

"I wouldn't call today slow, just lacking in drunks. Come nightfall, and this place will be packed to the eyeballs with them.

"You mean like last week, when it was so full, one guy attempted to empty all your liquor and got thrown out for it?"

"Hey, he had it coming!"

"Yeah, but was it really necessary to toss him through both a table and the window?"

"Okay, maybe I did go a little overboard. But I taught that guy a lesson: nobody steals from me!"

As Silvia finished her drink, she glanced behind her as the two other patrons walked (and wobbled) out the door, leaving her and Pheon the only two left. The silence was almost immediately broken as she spoke.

"So, did it come in yet?"

Pheon immediately knew what she was talking about. "You're in luck. I just got it back from the Smeargle this morning." Reaching beneath the counter, she produced a long, rectangle shaped box. Placing it on the counter infront of her, Silvia leaned over and examined the package for a minute.

"You think he'll like it?"

"Whether he likes it or not, anything's got to be better than that hideous scar he's sporting."

"Pheon!"

"What? You can't say that it doesn't bother you in the least."

_It's not the scar that bothers me, but the memories behind it. _Silvia refrained from saying those words out loud. Since day one, she had told no one what had happened on that day, many months ago. She had hoped that in not mentioning it, the pain would eventually go away. But it seemed, time couldn't heal all wounds.

Shaking the horrible memories from her head, Silvia quickly grabbed the box with her tail as she leapt off her barstool. She quickly called out, "Thanks Pheon! I owe you one!" before racing out the door, leaving Pheon alone in silence. Silvia's last words seemed to hang in the air like a suffocating fog. Just like Silvia, Pheon also had memories she wished she could regret.

"No Silvia...you don't owe me anything." Stepping out from behind the counter, she walked over to a small drawer on the side of the room, perfectly hidden behind one of the tables. Reaching behind her head, she pulled a small key out from within the hair band she used to tie her hair up. With one turn of the key, the drawer opened with an almost silent click. Nestled inside were two small objects. The first one appeared to be some kind of badge, engraved with the initials S.S. Pinned down by the badge was a single piece of parchment. The word "WANTED" could be clearly seen scrawled along the top. Beneath the heading, a familiar face stared up at her.

"If anything, I'm the one who still has a debt to pay."

**End Chapter**

_As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Also, you may have noticed I changed what TM's are depicted as compared to in the games. The reason for that is...how the hell is a Pokemon going to learn a move from a freaking CD!? _


	3. Home Away From Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Aaron was practically panting as he raced along the path leading away from the shopping district of town. If his gift for Silvia was going to be a surprise, he was going to have to get to the house before she did. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the building come into view. The house that Silvia and him had been living in since coming to Treasure town was constructed entirely out of clay bricks painted a cross between bright and dull red. It consisted of a few main chambers, as well three bedrooms. The house also included a chimney on the side of the building, which of course meant a fireplace was inside.

Upon reaching the structure, the sneaky Zangoose gently nudged the door open, wincing as it creaked open. _Need to remember to oil that one of these days. _Once inside, he silently closed it behind him, which surprisingly didn't creak this time. Like a husband getting back late into the night, Aaron slowly tiptoed down the hall, just in case Silvia was already…

"What took you?"

…home. Every strand of fur on his body seemed to spring up in shock, as every muscle in his body simultaneously froze. Glancing into the living room out of the corner of his eye, his sight fell on a certain black and purple scaled serpent sitting in her favorite chair.

Silvia had known it was him without even looking up from her book. It was the third book in a series she had taken a liking to a month or two ago. It was something about vampires and named for some time of day or another, Aaron couldn't really remember. In his opinion, if he wanted to know anything about vampires, he'd ask a Gliscor.

Once he could move again, he turned to her with a look of confusion on his face. "I thought you were at Pheon's."

"She closed up early a short while ago. Not enough people were coming in." Silvia paused as she turned the page of her book, which consisted of only a few more pages she had yet to read. "Get anything good from the shops?"

"Nothing we didn't already have." Hanging their team bag on the edge of another chair, he turned towards the room just across from the living room: the kitchen. Immediately upon entering, he began rummaging through the cupboards, looking for something. After a moment, he found what he was looking for: his stash of Tamato berries. The spiky berries were known to be some of the spiciest in the world, which very few could handle. Aaron was one of those few.

As he stepped out of the kitchen munching his snack, he noticed Silvia had just finished her book. Placing it in the bookcase among the right wall, she turned as he entered. Catching sight of his choice of snack, a look of disgust appeared on her face.

"Ugh…how can you eat those?"

"Have you ever even tried them?"

"Yes actually. If you remember, you tricked me into eating one when we were kids. "

Aaron started laughing between bites as the memory entered his head. "I still can't believe you actually ate it!" She just glared at him fiercely. Hoping to change the subject, he pointed towards the book she had just finished reading.

"Isn't there a fourth book in that series?"

Silvia glanced behind her at what he was referring to, before answering. "Yeah, but by this point it's beyond rare. Everyone's been sold out of it for weeks."

As Aaron finished the rest of his light snack, a smile spread across his face. "Well then, do I have a surprise for you!" Grabbing the satchel off from the back of the chair, he pulled out the tightly wrapped parcel he'd gotten from Liz. Holding it out to her, she grabbed it with her tail, staring at for a moment.

"Is this…"

"Open it and find out."

Placing it on the table in the center of the room, she carefully cut through the string and wrapping with her bladed tail. The wrappings fell away like curtains, revealing the object contained within. A pitch black cover with a lone white chess piece stared up at her. Silvia was speechless, to say the least. Quickly finding her voice, she glanced over at the still smiling Zangoose.

"But…how…"

"Liz owed someone a favor she was never going to use, so I asked her if she could get me that book for you. Though, it wasn't exactly cheap."

"So that's what you used the money from our account from!"

"Yep. Now you know why I wouldn't tell you before. I wanted this to be a random surprise."

"Surprising, yes. Random, no."

"Why's that?"

"Because I got you something too."

"You did?"

Silvia nodded her head in response. "Close your eyes."

Aaron was confused as to why, but he did it anyway. With his eyes closed, his ears perked up to try and figure out what she was doing. He heard the sound of a package being opened, something being removed from said package, and the sound of her slithering over to him. The feeling of something touching the back of his neck soon followed, as it then encircled his throat. He had to fight all instincts to open his eyes at this point.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Snapping his eyes open, he glanced down at what she had wrapped around his neck. Surrounding his throat was a bright red scarf. After looking at it for a moment, he stepped infront of the mirror Silvia had recently hung in the hall, in order to get a better look at himself. The scarf was the same color as the marks on his body, so it contrasted well with his white fur. The ends of it hung loosely against his back, reaching past his shoulders, ending at about halfway down his back. It also did an excellent job of hiding his horrendous scar.

As he was admiring himself, Silvia slithered up behind him. "You like it?"

"I sure do. Thanks!"

"I'm glad. I found this awhile ago on one of our missions, and Pheon recommended a Smeargel she knew to paint it. I was actually worried you wouldn't like it."

"Silvia, how could I not like something you put time into making for me?" He stared at himself in the mirror for another moment.

"Isn't it around this time the mission boards are changed?" Silvia suddenly reminded him.

"Oh, almost forgot!" Running past her towards the door he was about to leave when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Oops, almost forgot something else." Walking back up to her, he looked her right in the eyes and said "Thanks for the scarf."

"Thanks for the book. Now you better get going before all the good missions are taken."

"Be back soon." With a quick kiss on the cheek, he was out the door in a flash. Now alone, Silvia returned to her favorite chair, grabbing her new book as she did. As she turned to the first page, her mind drifted to how things had changed over the last few months. Aaron and her had not only become a successful Rescue Team, but now lived without fear of being discovered. Of course, it hadn't started out like that…

_

* * *

_

Four months ago…

Treasure Town was a madhouse of activity. A traveling convoy of merchants had rolled into town just a few short hours ago. This was soon accompanied by a swarm of Rescue teams returning from missions. Everywhere you looked; someone was buying, selling, or trading something. Thanks to all the commotion, no one took notice as a single figure slipped past them.

Silvia was draped in an old cloak she had found just a few days ago, which covered most of her body except for the bladed end of her tail. Her face was completely covered in the shadow of the hood, masking her appearance, which was a good thing. The last thing she needed in a place like this was to be noticed.

Finding a shop that wasn't currently busy, she slithered up to it and rung the little bell on the counter. The storekeeper, a Ninjask, looked up from rearranging his merchandise as he heard the bell.

"Ah, how may I help you today? We carry potion, lotions, berries, orbs, TM's and any other assorted knickknacks you could ever need or want!" Everything that the Ninjask said sounded more like a blur then a sentence, but Silvia was able to catch the gist of it

"Yes, do you carry bandages, as well as any healing tonics?"

"Bandages? Tonics? Certainly my good woman! Just give me 4.2 seconds." Like a blur, the speedy bug zipped from shelf to shelf, quickly gathering a small armful of bandages, ointment and one or two oddly colored vials of something Silvia guessed was medicine. With a few clicks of his register, the Ninjask quickly answered, "That'll be 365 PokeDollars please."

Pulling out a small pouch out of a pocket on the side of her cloak, Silvia shook it over the counter, in which a small pile of coins fell out, just barely enough to pay for the medical supplies. As he took the money in return, he handed her a bag full of her supplies.

"You have a nice day now." Silvia didn't respond, just simply turned around and left. She hadn't gotten far, when she was suddenly bumped by someone walking past her, causing her to drop her bag. The bandages and vials of medicine rolled out onto the ground upon impact. Silvia frantically gathered it all up, glad that nothing was broken or ruined, and was about to leave, when a voice suddenly called out from behind her.

"Hey you!"

Silvia turned around and was about to tell whoever it was to leave her alone, until she caught sight of who it was. Or what he was actually. Her throat dried up as she caught sight of unmistakable white fur, blotched with several streaks of red. Standing before her was the Zangoose leader of Team Razor wind, Claw. He wasn't alone though, as he was flanked by his two teammates, a Scyther and Sandslash.

"How dare you bump into me!"

In her head, Silvia was frantically trying to come up with a plan. The one thing she had been hoping to avoid was confrontation with either a Zangoose or Seviper, lest she be recognized. "You bumped into me you clumsy brute!!" As much as Silvia wished to avoid this, not responding was even more noticeable then just walking away.

"You lying she-witch! All you Seviper are the same, always getting in someone's way!"

"Ugh. I've got better things to do then argue with something whose head is emptier then a Dusclops!" With that, Silvia turned around and was about to leave when Claw called out to her once again.

"Hey, don't walk away from me! " Baring his claws at her, the enraged Zangoose charged towards her. Glancing behind her, Silvia whipped her tail back, knocking Claw's feet out from under him and causing him to land face first against the ground. Silvia couldn't help but laugh at this, as Claw peered up at her, his face covered with dirt and his eyes brimming with rage.

"No one…laughs at me!" Springing to his feet, he once again charged. Before he had taken even two steps tough, Silvia quickly lashed out with her tail once again, only this time she wrapped it tightly around his ankle, before hoisting him up off the ground. With one good swing of her tail, Claw was sent hurtling through the air, eventually landing with a loud CRASH!!! What he had landed on turned out to be one of the temporary stores, which the owner had just left for a moment to check on something. Now, he was freaking out at having his store destroyed, while Claw lay dazed among the remains and his two teammates were both in shock about what they had just seen. In the commotion, nobody noticed as Silvia quietly slipped away.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore echoed through the air was Silvia quickly slithered across the beach, making sure to remove her tracks behind her. In a few minutes, Silvia stopped as she arrived at the cave on the far side of the beach, appropriate named "Beach cave". This cavern was special though, as it was known as a Mystery Dungeon, an area such as a cave or forest which seemed to magically change its layout after each visit. Thanks to some markings and landmarks Silvia had left, finding her way though this particular dungeon had becoming easier and easier. In the time since coming to this town, this cavern had been a little home away from home.

Not that she had a home to return to anymore.

After a few minutes of traveling through seemingly endless corridors, Silvia arrived at her destination. Appearance wise, there was nothing to tell this cavern from any other in this dungeon. Only two things made this unique: the fire burning brightly in the center of the chamber, and a certain white furred figure sitting next to that fire.

Aaron looked up as she entered, a smiling coming to his face. "Welcome back! Any trouble?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Silvia draped her cloak atop a rock jutting from the wall as she entered, before laying the contents of her purchase infront of her.

"Meaning…?"

"I bumped into a Zangoose on my way back."

Now Aaron was worried. "A Zangoose?! Did he recognize you?"

"I don't think so. Besides, after what I did to him, he's not going to be so willing to talk about me anyway,"

"What'd you do?"

"I tossed him headlong into a vendors stand."

"Seriously?!" Aaron had to laugh at that. "You know Silvia, you can be rather impulsive when you want to be." He got a bottle of tonic thrown at him for that remark, which he caught with his good hand. From the look Silvia was giving him, he guessed he was supposed to drink it. Popping the cork off with his teeth, he downed the vial in one go.

Almost immediately, his eyes widened in shock as the taste of what he'd just drank hit him. "BLEH!! That's awful! What's in this stuff?" Flipping the vial over, he quickly scanned the list of ingredients included on the back. He immediately regretted it.

"Are even half this stuff edible? UGH!" Quickly grabbing his walking stick from beside him, Aaron limped over to a small pool of water by the far wall of the cavern. Once he reached it, he dunked his head into the water face first, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. When he resurfaced, the fur on his face was hanging loosely against his face, making him look ridiculous. What was worse, was that the taste was still present in the back of his throat. While this was going on, Silvia was practically rolling on the floor laughing, as Aaron frantically tried to clear his mouth of the foul aftertaste. Unknown to either of them though, on a far side of the cavern, a pair of beady eyes were watching them.

* * *

Meanwhile, three enormous figures stood in the shadows of the side of the cavern. One of them had seen Silvia disappear into the cavern and was now relaying this information to his boss.

"You sure it's her?" A giant monolith of a figure spoke towards his subordinate as he delivered these recent findings.

"Absolutely boss! I recognize her from the poster!" The messenger grunted as he finished speaking, his tusks being the only distinguishable part of him.

"Perfect. In a place such as this, she'll have nowhere to hide."

"What should be do sir?" A third figure spoke, his craggy back looking almost like a pair of mini mountains.

"We'll do what we always do. We'll go in and capture her, no matter what it takes! No one escapes Team Rollout!" The other two cheered in unison as they raced off into the mouth of the cave. On the ground beneath them, crumpled almost beyond all recognition, was what appeared to be a poster. From what remained, the word "WANTED" could be seen emblazed across the top in bright red letters. Beneath the heading, a single photo of Silvia Seviper stared up towards the sky.

**End Chapter**


	4. Cave in!

_I live!!! After another two months of hiatus, I have finally finshed this chapter! *phew!* I seriously don't know what was it about this chapter that gave me so much trouble. It wasn't writers block, I can tell you that, because I was able complete the next few chapters before this. Anyway, expect more frequent updates for the rest of the summer! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad." Silvia was currently helping change Aaron's bandages once he had stopped freaking out from the taste in his mouth. That had taken some time, as the fire in the center of the chamber had burned down considerably by this point.

"Believe me, it was. I hope I never have to taste that ever again!"

"Well then, you won't be happy to know that I bought two vials of it."

"No way! You'd have to forcibly pour that stuff down my throat to get me to drink it!"

Silvia smiled a mischievous smile as she leaned next to his ear and whispered, "That can be arranged."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Aaron opened his mouth to respond, when the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook. A few seconds later, another tremor passed beneath them, stronger then the last. This was soon followed by a series of aftershocks rumbling thought the caverns, increasing in strength with each pass. With most of his bandages done, Aaron leapt to his feet, but almost toppled over as another tremor passed under his feet.

"What is this!? An earthquake?" His assumptions were soon proven false, as a loud crash echoed against the cavern walls, before a wall to their left inexplicably crumbled, spraying debris and dust like a fog. From within the debris, a giant boulder barreled towards them. Quickly, both of them dove from the boulders path, each landing on opposite sides of the room. The rolling ball of rock rocketed back, passing through what remained of the fire in its wake and violently spraying the ashes into the air. They expected the huge boulder to crash into the other side of the cavern. Instead, it suddenly arced around and headed towards them again, as if acting on a life of its own. But its target in particular appeared to be…

"Silvia!" Said serpent narrowly avoided being flattened as the huge object of stone rocketed past her. Aaron sighed in relief that it had missed her. But his relief was short lived, as he saw the boulder once again arc in its path, before barreling towards her at speeds that greatly exceeded its previous attempt. Acting on the agility Zangoose are known for, Aaron dashed across the room, gritting his teeth as pain shot through his leg like lightning. Mere seconds before the large projectile reached its target, Aaron practically tackled into her, rolling them both from its path and causing the large construct to finally halt in its tracks as it collided with another wall, coming to a dead stop just a few feet from them.

As the dust from the recent rampage settled, Aaron and Silvia picked themselves up off the cavern floor, not once taking their eyes off the huge mass of stones. Although the pain had subsided, Aaron's bad leg was still throbbing from the recent stress.

Silvia noticed him wince in pain out of the corner of her eye. "You alright?"

"Yeah…yeah I'm fin-."

"How dare you!" A harsh voice suddenly cut through the cavern, which sounded like someone gargling stones. The once still boulder suddenly did a 180, before several panels of rock slid back in, creating four wide openings, one on each side and two on the bottom. From these openings, a pair of short and stubby arms and legs slid out, the latter of which bent down to support the huge mass of stones. Once it was standing, another stone panel slid back, allowing a small head to pop out, which stared at them with an angry look.

"How dare you!" The huge mass of rock and limbs repeated, though now he could be identified as a Golem. He stamped his foot in frustration like a newborn throwing a tantrum, causing the ground beneath him to shake once again. "She's mine! Get your own criminal to apprehend!"

"Criminal? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" The Golem pointed one stubby finger at Silvia accusingly. "You're wanted in Treasure Town! Admit it!"

"Wanted!? For what?"

"I don't know! Do I look like I bothered to read the poster? All I know is someone wants you caught and they offered a mighty large reward for it too. Now, you can either come quietly or I can have some fun and take you down myself." The huge monolith of a Pokémon smiled devilishly as he waited for a response. He was silently hoping she would fight back, as it just wasn't interesting unless he got a fight out of them.

But before Silvia could respond, Aaron stepped forward, putting himself in-between Silvia and the Golem. He glanced at the huge mass of stones, a look of rage commonly seen between Zangoose and Seviper played across his face.

"Back off. This Seviper's mine!" A hint of anger could be detected in Aaron's voice as he spoke. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was no better than any other Zangoose, and that's exactly what he wanted. Interfering with a Zangoose and Seviper was something most people would not want to get caught up in. "I suggest you leave now, if you value your well being."

Instead of hightailing it and running, the walking boulder simply laughed. This Golem was either too brave or too stupid to care for the possible dangers. "Don't make me laugh! This criminal's coming with me!"

"You and what army?"

At this, the Golem simply smiled. "I'm glad you asked." Once again, he pounded his left foot against the cavern floor, creating a sizable mark. As the loud bangs echoed against the walls, he reared his head back and called out as loudly as he could, "HEY GUYS! TIME TO ROLLOUT!"

As his call went out, the ground beneath them began to once again shake, identical in every way to the heavy footsteps of an awakened colossi. From the remains of the previously destroyed wall, two more beings came rolling over, stopping on both sides of their boss. The first looked like a cross between an elephant and a car tire, known to most as a Donphan. Said Pokemon snorted as it stood next to the Golem. The other new arrival was a Rhyhorn, a creature that looked like it was carrying a pack of mountains on its back.

The Golem chuckled to himself. "Now you're in trouble. You might have had a chance against one of us, but now, your fate is sealed. For no criminal has ever escaped the likes…OF TEAM ROLLOUT!" His quadruped companions cheered in unison with their leader. "As for you, Zangoose. If you interfere with our work, don't think we won't hesitate to eliminate you too."

At the same time, Aaron was frantically trying to come up with some kind of plan. With the arrival of the rest of this so called "team", their chances of escaping had dropped drastically. If only he could somehow take out two, if not all three of them. Like taking out two birds with one stone.

_Wait. Stones…_

"Aaron…" Silvia whispered in his ear as to not alert the three walking monoliths. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to run. Run as fast as you can."

"What!?"

"Think about it. These three are after you. If you leave, they'll be distracted. With them distracted, I've got an idea that'll take all three of them out at once."

"But…but what about you?"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. We'll meet back at the entrance of the cave."

Despite the air of confidence in his voice, Silvia couldn't help but think back to the last time they had been separated. It had ended with Aaron lying half dead infront of her, with his brother's blood staining her scales. It was a day she only wished she could forget.

As much as she hated to, she trusted Aaron enough to know what he was getting himself into, and that he wouldn't do anything foolish. Without any further hesitation, she turned and ran from the chamber. Aaron glanced behind as she slithered away.

_That's my girl._

"Hey! She's getting away!" The Donphan yelled as he saw Silvia take off.

"What!?!" The Golem had been so preoccupied thinking about how he was going to spend the huge reward, he hadn't notice Silvia running until she had already disappeared from sight. He growled in frustration as his "meal-ticket" got away.

"You imbecile!" A loud clang rang out as the Team leader smashed the Donphan hard against the head. "Go after her!"

"Sorry, but if you wanna get to her…" Aaron extended his claws as he readied himself into a fighting pose. "…You're going to have to go through me first!"

"Nothing but a nuisance. Donphan!" The warthog like Pokemon picked himself up from his previous beating. "You're with me. Let's take care of this quickly so we can get on with the mission."

"Right!"

"What about me boss?" The Rhyhorn spoke up for the first time from behind his leader.

"You stay here. You'll just mess things up as usual!"

Rhyhorn cowered back at Golem's harsh words. This wasn't what he had in mind when he'd joined this team. He was always treated like nothing more then a tag along, being given barely any of the rewards and constantly told to stay behind lest he mess things up. All because he couldn't learn Rollout naturally like his so called "teammates"!

"Let's go!" Rolling themselves into their ball forms, the two of them shot towards their white furred adversary, digging a size-able track into the floor as they did. From within his armored shell, the Team leader smiled to himself. _This'll be easier then stealing candy from a hatchling._

_Hmm…I was hoping all three of them would attack at once, but two still works. _Getting down on all fours, Aaron nimbly avoided the speeding attackers, before taking off across the chamber. Of course, the two Pokémon followed behind him, hell-bent on taking out this nuisance and catching the escaping criminal before she got away.

But stopping Aaron was easier said than done. Even with one leg injured, he was still able to outrun them. He glanced behind him as his followers started getting closer. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" At this remark, the speeding Pokémon once again increased their velocity. For this plan to work, both of them would have to be moving at ample speeds.

Golem's smile turned into a growl as this small nuisance quickly turned into a full-blown pest. He had better things to do then chase some annoying Zangoose! "Donphan!"

The warthog like Pokémon rolled in beside his leader. "You called Boss?"

"Circle around and catch him on the other side. It's time we finished this for good!"

"Yes sir!" Following his orders, Donphan made a sharp turn down a corridor, which would take him back around, but come out in front. Aaron saw this out of the corner of his eye and smiled. Seconds later, the Donphan came barreling out of a connecting corridor, heading straight for him.

"It's over Zangoose!" The Golem laughed as he sped up even more. He made a quick mental note to clean the blood and fur off his body later on as he laughed to himself.

As the Donphan's shadow passed over him, Aaron made his move. With a quick turn of his left leg (despite the pain), Aaron rolled out of the way, putting the two speeding projectiles into an unavoidable collision course.

"WAAAAHHHH!?!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"

_**CRASH!!!**_

The resulting collision sent a shockwave that caused the entire cavern to rumble. Stones danced across the cavern floor as if gifted with a will of their own. Some ways off, Silvia halted in her tracks as the tremor passed beneath her and the loud crash reached her ears.

"That came from where Aaron is!" Once again, her thoughts flew back to that day, a day that would forever be burned into her brain. That fateful day, that not only did she almost lose Aaron as well as her own life, but she became so consumed with rage that she unconsciously took the life of another. Her blade had become stained with blood, dripping along her scales…

Silvia furiously shook her head, trying to banish the memory back to the deep recessesof her mind. "No…it'll be fine. Aaron knows what he's doing." But even that couldn't quench the fires of doubt that burned within her. What if he was hurt? Or worse?

Preoccupied by these conflicting thoughts, Silvia failed to notice a shadowed figure slowly creep up behind her. Whatever this being was, it seemed to blend into the cavern wall, becoming next to invisible. As it came closer, it extended the claws in its right hand, deadly sharp in every definition. With another step, the being came closer, its claws readily reaching for Silvia's scales…

Aaron coughed as a cloud of dust hovered in the air from the crash. As the cloud dissipated and he made it to his feet, he glanced over at the results of his actions. Lying in a crumpled heap, were the two members of Team Rollout. The larger of the two, Golem, lay in a small crater, while his teammate lay just about a foot from him. Both were out cold, swirls in their eyes from the force of the collision.

"They were strong…they were fast…and they were really, really stupid."

"Boss! Donphan!" The Rhyhorn that had been sitting on the sidelines ran over to his unconscious teammates, skidding to a halt just a few feet from them, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"You…but…how…"

"Hey, you." The Rhyhorn turned sharply as Aaron spoke. "I'll give you the chance to leave now. If you don't want to end like your teammates here, I suggest you take it. "

For a split second, he actually considered taking the chance to run. But if his boss found out…he shuddered at the thought. Then, something occurred to him. What if…what if HE took care of the Zangoose, as well as capture the Seviper fugitive? That brought a smile to his face. Yeah, if he was able to do what the Boss couldn't, then he would finally get the respect he deserved! They might even make him the leader of Team Rollout! He started to chuckle to himself as he pictured himself in such a position.

Now Aaron was confused. "What's so funny?"

Instead of answering, the walking mountain simply shouted "Rollout!" before rolling himself up and spinning in place. The crags on his back grated against the ground as he spun, actually causing sparks to fly. After a moment of this, he shot forward, which Aaron simply stepped to the side to avoid.

"Can't say I didn't give him a chance." As the last remaining member of Team Rollout came for another charge, Aaron once again dodged with ease. But as his foot touched ground, he was unprepared for what happened next.

The moment his foot came in contact with the cavern floor, a bolt of pain shot through his leg, causing him to scream in agony as he collapsed to his knees. The pain was intense, like someone was repeatedly jabbing an ice-pick into his leg, over and over again. Gripped with pain, he was unable to react as the Rhyhorn came for one more charge.

Imagine being hit with a car going 20 miles an hour. Now imagine that car has rock hard spikes. That's what it must have felt like being struck by a rolling Rhyhorn. The force of the impact was so great that it actually sent Aaron hurtling across the cavern, smacking against the ground like a skipping stone against water, before rolling to a stop.

Despite the force of the initial impact, Aaron still somehow managed to remain conscious, though his whole body ached enough to distract him from the pain in his leg. As he strained to get up, his eyes widened as he saw the buzz saw like Rhyhorn barreling towards him, ready to finish him off once and for all. Hardly able to move, he could do nothing to stop him.

"You're mine!"

Rhyhorn's potential victory was cut short, as a cloud of smoke suddenly billowed into the chamber, seemingly coming from nowhere. The cloud washed over Aaron, obscuring him from sight. This shocked Rhyhorn enough to cause him to skid out, flip over the cloud of smoke and land smack dab on the other side, the grooves on his back helping to break his fall. As he flipped off his back, he looked up at the sudden wall of smog.

"What the heck is going on here?!?"

He didn't have to wait long for an answer. As the smoke began to clear, distinct figures began to appear. The first was Aaron, whose white fur stood out among the pitch black smog. Thanks to the sudden appearance of this smoke, Aaron was able to pull himself back to his feet, though not without some difficulty. The second figure…was someone neither of them expected.

"It's you!"

"Surprised to see me?" The second figure was none other than Silvia herself. After hearing the large crash from before, Silvia decided she had had enough of running while Aaron tried to defend her, injuring himself in the process. It was time she did the fighting.

The remaining member of Team Rollout only snickered. "Thanks for coming out on your own. Now all I have to do is bring you back, and the Boss will forever be grateful to me!"

"I'd like to see you try." She smiled tauntingly at the Rhyhorn as her tail swished behind her. Taking her up on her challenge, he once again rolled into his ball form, before turning sharply and circling them like some bird of prey as he picked up speed, all the while causing sparks as his body pulverized the ground underneath.

"Silvia, what are you-"Aaron was going to ask what she was doing here, when Silvia cut him off.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, but-"Once again she cut him off.

"Good. When I say so, I want you to jump out of the way."

"But, Silvia-"

"JUST DO IT!" She snapped at him. That shut him up. As she turned back around, her eyes continuing to following the spinning buzz saw of a Pokémon circling around them, she muttered something under her breath, quiet enough that Aaron couldn't hear.

"I almost lost you once. I'm not about to lose you a second time…"

At that very moment, the spinning Rhyhorn decided it was time he finished this. As he finished one more turn, He sharply arced, heading straight for them. Silvia didn't even flinch as she saw the incoming attack.

"This is it!" The Rhyhorn happily exclaimed. "_Once I take her down, I'll finally have the respect I deserve! I'll finally be somebody! I'll-"_

"NOW!" At her command, both of them leapt from the path of the speeding projectile, causing it to speed past them, heading straight for a wall situated right behind them.

"WHAAAAAAT!?!" As his body struck the hard stone wall, the spikes on his back did the same thing that it had accomplished with the floor, as it quickly chipped a large groove into its surface. The sparks shot off in showers, looking like some mad welder gone mad. After about ten seconds of this, he finally stopped spinning, allowing him to unroll himself. He turned around to face to face them, a smile of accomplishment painted on his face.

"HAH! You honestly thought that would stop-"Before he could finish, a chunk of stone suddenly fell from above him and hit him on the head. Thanks to his armor, it didn't hurt, but it did manage to annoy him.

"Hey, what the…" He glanced up towards the ceiling and saw something that made his eyes widen in shock. When he had crashed into the wall, the resulting impact, coupled with the drilling motion, had caused a huge crack to form, running up from the wall straight up the ceiling. This single crack quickly branched out along the entire ceiling; greatly compromising the structure, as several more chunks began to fall, getting bigger and bigger by the second.

"Um…oops." That was all he managed to say, as several chunks of the ceiling fell all at once, entombing him in a mound of debris. A violent tremor passed through the entire cave, as the very thing began to crumble around them.

"Let's move!" Not wasting anytime, the two of them took, trying to escape the collapsing cavern. At the same time, the Golem leader of Team Rollout had begun to regain consciousness.

"Ugh…what happened…?" As he lifted his head, he saw Aaron and Silvia run past him. That managed to wake him up.

"Hey! They're getting away! Somebody stop-"He tapered off as the sound of cracking stone reached his ears. Glancing up, he had just enough time to notice as a huge slab of the ceiling came hurtling towards him and the still unconscious Donphan.

"Oh cra-"

_**CRASH!!!**_

If anyone had been on the beach at this time, they would have heard the sound of stone chipping against stone, before the structure once known as Beach Cave collapsed in a shower of debris and dust. The nearby Krabby scurried away as the area became enveloped in a obscuring cloud. After a few moments, the heavy dust had been swept up in the wind formed by the waves. What lay in its wake was what remained of Beach Cave, now nothing more than a skeletal heap of its former self. Several feet from this once glorious structure, lying among the sand, were Aaron and Silvia, who had managed to escape just as the cavern collapsed. As they got up, coughing any of the stone dust from their lungs, they glanced over at what remained of the place they had called "home".

"Well…now what?"

As Aaron dusted the stone dust from his fur, he answered her question. "Now, we get moving. Someone's bound to have heard that and will come running. After that…we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Like with most things, the weakest link will give out at the worst possible moment. This soon proved true, as the moment Aaron took a step forward, the sickening sound of cracking bone filled the air, followed by Aaron's leg twisting out from under him at an unnatural angle. As his leg gave out and he fell to his knees, a hoarse cough ripped from his throat, which caused several globs of blood to splatter against the sandy beach. Silvia was at his side in an instant.

"Aaron!"Quickly helping him to his feet, what she saw terrified her. With the recent battle, his wounds had reopened, staining his once white bandages the dull red of blood. It was even worse than that, as it seemed the strips of cloth could hold no more as even more blood began to run down his chest and arm.

"Come on, we've gotta get you some help!"

Even with his throat filling with blood, Aaron was able to croak out two words. "But…where?"

Where was right. They were outcasts from their own kind, so returning home only spelled disaster. Plus, if what Team Rollout had said was true, she was a wanted criminal. If she took even one step into town, she was bound to be noticed and arrested. So where…

Glancing up, her eyes fell on a single structure at the very top of the hill, able to be seen for miles in every direction. The Wigglytuff guild seemed to almost glow, but that might have been because the sun was almost situated behind the building itself. In that moment, Silvia made a choice. A choice that would change both their lives forever.

* * *

"Pokemon Detected! Pokemon Detected!" Diglett's cry rang up into the lower levels of the guild, as he noticed the shadow of something stepping onto the grate infront of the guild, used to identify visitors via their footprints. Currently, many of the guild's members were conversing about past missions or something that may have happened in town today. A few were even flaunting some of the stuff they had bought or traded for from the travelling convoys. Loudred, the sentry for that day, peered down the pit before calling out to the Diglett at the other end.

"WELL, who is IT?" Loudred's booming voice echoed down the pit.

"The footprint is Zangoose's! The footprint is Zangoose's!"

"HMM. Must be Claw from Team Razor Wind. Let him in THEN!"

"Oka- wait! There's someone with him! The footprint is…no…it…it can't be!"

"WHAT'S the problem Diglet? Don't you KNOW who it is?"

"No, I know who it is. I'm just not sure if you'll believe it is all."

"What's that suppose to MEAN? WHO is it already?"

"Alright then. The footprint is Seviper's! The footprint is Seviper's!"

In that moment, every inhabitant of the guild became silent. Everyone stopped talking about their missions, as well as showing off their newly gained items. It was so quiet; you could hear a pin drop. Nearly a dozen pairs of eyes glanced over at Loudred, whose usually big mouth was hanging wide open in shock.

"W…WHAT!!! Are you SURE!?"

"I double checked it myself. I told ya you wouldn't believe me. Should I let them in?"

Loudred would have usually responded with a rather obnoxious answer, but now he was unusually silent. Everyone knew he was thinking hard on what to do, which was something the loud Pokemon wasn't known for. That wasn't saying he was stupid, just that it wasn't like him to over think things in a situation like this.

"…Open the gate."

"Alright then…" The sound of the gates rumbling open echoed deeper into the guild, followed by the sound of something coming down the stairs. Everyone remained perfectly silent as they waited for the figures to step into view. When they finally did, everyone was shocked by what lay before them.

It wasn't Aaron's wounded and bleeding body that shocked them, but who it was helping him down the steps. Silvia had wormed her way under his left arm, helping support the part of his body with his broken leg. It was a wonder she had even gotten this far, as every cell in her body was basically screaming for her to get out of there as fast as possible. Using every bit of willpower she had, she was resisting what her body was telling her as she made her way to bottom of the steps. Looking up, Silvia saw that everyone in the room was staring at her, which was to be expected. After all, how often do you see a Zangoose being helped by a Seviper, both hated enemies for centuries?

"Please… someone please help him!"

**End Chapter**

_Yes, I realise Seviper do not have footprints in the games, but they needed someway to identify them! As I said before, expect more frequent updated from here on out!_


	5. Shock and Awe

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**.

"Somebody please, help him!" Silvia's pleas fell on deaf ears as the entire guild continued to gawk at her. Never in their lives would they ever of thought of seeing such a sight as a Seviper helping a Zangoose, nevertheless asking to help him. It was just unheard of!

Loudred was the first to speak. "But...he's a-"

"A what? A Zangoose? You don't think I know that!?" Now Silvia was starting to get ticked off. It had taken all her willpower not to turn around and leave, and now none of them were willing to help her. If Aaron didn't get medical attention soon...She didn't even want to think about that.

"What does it matter if he's a Zangoose? He needs help, and that's all that should concern you!" Still, none moved. Bothered by all the noise, the feathered form of Chatot, second in command to Guildmaster Wigglytuff himself, stepped out from the Guildmaster's chamber.

"What's going on here? What's with the all the-". The usually chatty bird was rendered speechless as he caught sight of the scene before him. As the colourful parrot stood still as a statue, his beak wide open in shock, Wigglytuff suddenly appeared behind him.

"G-guildmaster..." Chatot managed to stutter out, "...Do you see what I see?"

"I sure do. This Zangoose needs help!" With a determined look on his face, Wigglytuff rushed past the further stunned Chatot. Running up to them, he ducked under Aaron's other arm and helped Silvia to support the Zangoose's limp body. "Let's get him to one of the spare room."

"Thank you..."

Wigglytuff smiled his ever present smile before answering, "Don't mention it! We at the guild are here to help!" With this smile still plastered on his face, he turned to Chatot, who was still standing there with his beak gaping wide open. "Chatot, hurry and set up one of the spare beds."

The sound of Wiggytuff's voice proved to be enough to shake Chatot from his frozen state, though not from his state of disbelief. "But...but Guildmaster! She's a...and he's a..."

"Chatot. Hurry and set up one of the spare beds." Though his tone of voice never changed, one could easily detect the impatience and, need I say, anger in his voice. One thing everyone at the guild knew NEVER to do was disobey a direct order from the Guildmaster. Chatot took the hint almost immediately.

"Y-yes sir!" With that, Chatot dashed from the room like his tail feathers were on fire. Actually, in his rush, several of his feathers had come loose, fluttering silently to the floor. Though, whether they were from a molt, or just out of fear, was uncertain. With Chatot getting the bed ready, Wigglytuff now set his sights on the Loudred known as Decibel. "Decibel, go and fetch Mary." Mary was the Chansey who usually ran the nursery, though, like most Chansey, was also trained in the medical arts.

"GOT it!" As Decibel headed for the stairs, Silvia and Wigglytuff began to quickly carry Aaron over to the beds. He was still conscious, though his voice seemed to have left him at the moment. As the three of them left the room, the remaining apprentices seemed to have come to their senses.

"Did you see that?" Corphish asked the rest of them

"I think I did. Did you?" Sunflora was still unsure if what she saw was real.

"You know, I keep getting the feeling like I've seen her somewhere before..."

"I know. But from where?" Chimecho curled his paper-thin tail atop his head as he tried to jog his memory.

"Uh...guys?" Everyone turned as they heard Bidoof speak. "I think I know where you've seen her before."

"Where?" They all responded in unison, eyes locked on the little beaver Pokémon.

"From the Criminal Board. She's a wanted fugitive!"

"WHAT!?!" To say that everyone was shocked would be an understatement. Sunflora stepped forward before speaking, voicing what everyone was probably thinking.

"But, why would a wanted criminal come to the guild, of all places?"

"I don't know, but I think we should inform Officer Magnezone." The rest of them agreed with him. Turning around, Bidoof walked over and stuck his head down the sentry tunnel. "Hey Dig! Hurry to town and go get Officer Magnezone!" Seconds later, they heard an almost inaudible "All right!" before hearing the sound of something digging up to the surface.

Meanwhile, Chatot had just finished setting up a spare bed when Silvia and Wigglytuff walked in. Carefully, they lowered Aaron's body, trying not to move him too much. Mere seconds after being laid down, his body suddenly and violently began to convulse, before more blood began to well up from his throat, dripping down the sides of his mouth.

"Aaron!"

"Don't touch him!" As Silvia moved, she was suddenly shoved back by Chatot. A look of fierce determination appeared on his face as he stopped her from coming any closer.

"What's your problem!?"

"I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I not buying it. I'm not letting you harm this individual anymore!"

"You honestly think that I did this?!"

"Who else? You Seviper and Zangoose have been fighting for centuries. Why would this be any different?"

"Why you-"

"Enough!" Before the two of them erupted into violence, Wigglytuff stepped between them. "Now is not the time for bickering! Now is the time to help this poor soul before Decibel gets back with Mary! Understand?!"

Albeit uneasy, Chatot stepped back, though he still continued to keep his eyes on Silvia. As the two of them tried to stabilize the injured Zangoose, Silvia heard a noise coming from the main foyer. Giving into curiosity, she slithered from the room and down the hall, just peeking out from behind a stone cropping jutting from the wall. She saw what appeared to be a floating metal object in the middle of the room, with several smaller silver orbs floating around him. All three of them had strange black objects jutting from their sides, with one side of each ending in red and the other side ending in blue. If this was a Pokémon, it was certainly one of the most unusual Pokémon she had ever seen. As she looked on, she saw the Corphish begin to speak to the floating "thing".

"We're so glad you could come Officer Magnezone." Magnezone? Was that this odd creature's name?

"I came as soon as I got the message, zzzt." Though the being possessed no mouth, it still seemed to be giving off a loud buzzing sound which could be considered a voice.

"Did you bring the wanted poster?"

"Yeah, got it right here, zzzt." Seemingly out of nowhere, the being known as Magnezone produced a single sheet of paper. Silvia could make out the words "Wanted" on the top; though she couldn't see the picture from the angle they were holding it. Magnezone placed the poster face up of the floor infront of him for all to see. They all crowded around as they tried to get a good look at it.

"Is this the criminal you spoke of, zzzt?"

"Yes, that's her alright. Complete with the golden band around her tail."

Golden band around her tail...they were talking about her! Silvia had to stifle a gasp, lest she be discovered. She remembered those three thugs from before saying that they were going to take her in for a reward. She never though they were serious when they said it!

"So you're saying she just waltzed in here, carrying an injured Zangoose, zzzt?"

"Uh huh. We wouldn't have believed it either if we hadn't seen it ourselves. According to the poster you brought, she's wanted for the murder of a Zangoose named "Aaron". Should we be worried?" Silvia didn't hear the response, as what Corphish just said sunk in. Murder...of a Zangoose named Aaron? Silvia was in shock. Aaron had almost died at the hands of his psychotic brother, and yet she was being blamed for it!

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from above. The floor above them seemed to start to crumple, like an earthquake was ripping through the place. Moments later, three large monolith Pokémon practically rolled down the stairs. Silvia recognized them immediately. It was them! The ones who called themselves Team Rollout! What were they doing here?

"All of you'd better step off. This is our prey!"

"Yeah, we accepted the mission, so the bounty's ours!" The Donphan cued in with his leader. The Rhyhorn standing behind them seemed almost afraid to speak at the moment. Considering it had been his fault the three of them had ended up buried in rubble, that was to be expected.

At the mere sight of them, Silvia hissed in anger. They had attacked them without reason, led to Aaron's current condition and had destroyed the one place they had called home since fleeing their old lives, and they had the nerve to come running in here asking for a reward!?

It seemed that Magnezone shared her anger for the ragtag team. "As I recall, you three not only failed to catch the criminal, but I'm getting reports that you also single-handedly demolished Beach Cave in the process, zzzt!"

"It wasn't our fault! If only that Zangoose hadn't of gotten-"

"Wait…" Magnezone cut them off as he wondered if what he just heard was right. "Did you say a Zangoose got in your way, zzzt?"

"Yeah! Figured he was there for the loot so we gave him what for, right guys?" Donphan cheered behind him and Rhyhorn only answered with a meek "Yes..."

"He deserved it for getting in our way. What a weak sucker he turned out to-"

"SHUT UP!" Everyone in the room turned sharply as Silvia stepped out from her hiding spot. Her red eyes burned with the fires of anger, as she glared at the so called "rescue" team. "Both of you just shut up!"

"What's she doing here? Don't tell me you guys help criminals now?"

Silvia didn't let anyone answer his question as she continued. "This is all your fault! You guys are nothing but thugs attacking us for the fun of it! If you three would have just left us alone, then Aaron's injuries wouldn't have reopened and he wouldn't be here! If anything happens to him, I'll make sure all three of you won't live to regret it!" Not giving any of them time to respond, Silvia slithered back into the hallway to check on Aaron.

"Hey, get back here!" Golem was about to give chase, when Magnezone "stepped" infront of him. "Get out of my way! She's mine!"

"You three have done enough for one day. Continue any further and I'll arrest you were you stand, zzzt!"

"Why you..."

"Hey, didn't the poster say she was wanted for murdering a Zangoose's named Aaron?" Everyone looked at Bidoff again because of his sudden question.

"Yeah… zzzt."

"Well, didn't she just refer to that Zangoose she brought in by the same name?"

For a moment, no one spoke as they tried to process what Bidoof had just said. Magnezone turned to his two officer Magnemites, who were all thinking the same thing as their chief. "You don't think…zzzt."

"...it's the same Zangoose...zzzt."

"...she's been accused of murdering, zzzt?" The three of them seemed to think for a moment, before turning to Team Rollout.

"We'll take it from here. You may leave now, zzzt."

"No way! I'm not leaving until I get my reward for bringing in this criminal!"

"You want a reward, fine. You reward…is I won't charge all three of you for the destruction of Beach cave, not to mention disobeying an officer AND I won't have your entire team removed from the Rescue Team roster! That's you reward! Now get out of my sight before I change my mind, zzzt!"

The Golem just stood there, his mouth gaping open in shock. "You...you can't do that!"

"Watch me, zzzt." If Magnezone had possessed a mouth, he would have been smiling at this point. Golem just growled at him, even his small brain realizing he was stuck. With a huff, he stomped from the room, his two teammates following right behind him. As they left, Decibel came running down the stairs, Mary following right behind him carrying her medical kit.

"Sorry I'm late. So, where's the patient?"

"He's this way, but I should warn you…you won't believe me when I tell you how he got here, zzzt."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry. I can handle anything."

* * *

"You sure you're okay, zzzt?"

"Yeah, just a fainting spell. Nothing to worry about." Upon hearing the story of a Zangoose being carried in by a Seviper, Mary had promptly fainted from shock. It had taken a small electrical shock from the floating officer to wake her. Since then, she had sedated Aaron, as well as having stopped the bleeding from his neck wound. He was currently still unconscious. "Anyway, what would you like to know?"

"These wounds…what caused them, zzzt?"

Leaning over Aaron's injured shoulder; she slowly removed the blood soaked bandages, revealing the grizzly wound beneath. Mary seemed to examine the injury for a minute, before turning to Magnezone. "I can tell you one thing. These weren't caused by a Seviper."

"They weren't, zzzt?"

"No, look." She pointed towards the edge of the wound "This cut is jagged and sloppy. A blade cuts straight and cleanly. If I had to guess, I'd say these were claw marks."

"So, the Seviper didn't cause these wounds, zzzt."

"Exactly. Also, and I know this may sound crazy, but I actually think she was trying to help him. I can smell the ointment on these bandages, not to mention he would have needed help with these. Why she would help him though, I can't make sense of."

"At this point, none of this case makes sense, zzzt." Both of them glanced towards the doorway, were Silvia sitting against the wall just a few feet from the room. She hadn't moved since Mary had come in, just sat there, waiting.

Time had no meaning to Silvia. How long had it been since she had brought Aaron in: Minutes? Hours? Days? She couldn't tell at this point. Her only concerns were on her friend, as well as herself. Had her choice to bring him here been a good idea? Once word of this spread, she would no doubt be hunted down by Aaron's family, not to mention she was currently on everyone's wanted lists. What was she going to do now? How-

She was shaken from her thoughts when a cup of water was suddenly placed infront of her face. Looking up, she saw that the owner of it was the Sunflora she had seen when she'd come in.

"I thought you could use something to drink. You must be thirsty after all this time just sitting here."

Silvia reluctantly accepted the drink with a quick, "Thanks.", before downing about half of it in one go. After that, she stared into the remaining water, a flurry of questions continuing their rampage on the inside of her head. She didn't notice the Sunflora take a seat next to her until she spoke.

"You care about him, don't you?" Silvia just looked at her for a moment, wondering if she should remain silent or actually answer her question. After once again staring into her cup of water, she decided to just stay quiet, as anything she said would probably lead to even more questions.

The Sunflora seemed content with Silvia's silence though. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious is all. "

Silvia remained silent for a moment, before sighing. "I'm…I'm just worried is all."

"I wouldn't worry. Mary's one of the best doctors around. If anyone can help him, she certainly can!"

Silvia actually cracked a smile at that. "Thanks for the water miss..."

"Sunni, call me Sunni. Everyone else does!"

"Okay, Sunni." Just as they finished talking, Mary stepped out into the hallway with Magnezone right behind. Silvia immediately sprang up, dropping the water in process.

"Is he alright?" At first, Mary was unsure of what to say. She could tell from the medical evidence that this Seviper wasn't the one who inflicted the injuries, but she was still unsure whether to trust her or not.

"Well...He's stable. I was able to stop the bleeding and redo his bandages. He's currently semi-conscious from the sedatives so he shouldn't be in any immediate pain."

"Can I see him?" Mary was shocked by this request, though she tried not to show it. Even though this Seviper was innocent of what she was alleged of committing, Mary was unsure if leaving two known enemy species in the same room alone was a good idea.

"Al...Alright, but someone else will have to be in there with you. Magnezone?"

"Can't. I've got paperwork that needs to be done back at the station, zzzt."

"I'll go with her!' Sunni spoke up.

"Okay, just don't stay long." With that, Mary headed for Wigglytuff's office to give him her report. Magnezone followed behind her, leaving Silvia and Sunni alone in the hallway. As they stepped into Aaron's room, they heard him speak, though his voice was very lucid from the sedatives.

"_Silvia...is that...you?"_ Upon hearing his voice, she slithered up next to his bed. His eyes appeared to be half closed, his pupils staring off into the distant, almost like he wasn't fully there.

"Yes, it's me."

"_Where...where am I?"_

"The guild. I brought you here when your wounds reopened."

"_The guild huh?" _He chuckled at this. "_It must have taken all you had…not to turn around and leave."_

"You have no idea. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now...now I'm not so sure."

"_Why's that?"_

"They...they say that I'm a criminal. I'm afraid they might try and arrest me. If that happens..."

"_Silvia...that will never happen. We made a promise remember?_ _Together forever..."_

"Right. Forever..." Aaron seemed to sigh, before his head rolled to the side. Worry instantly welled up from the pit of her stomach. "Aaron!"

"_Did I ever...Did I ever tell you how beautiful you looked?"_

The worry instantly vanished as relief washed over her. She couldn't help it as a smile spread to her face. "No, I don't think you did."

"_Well then...you look beautiful."_ He sluggishly reached up and placed his paw on the side of her face. At the same time, he leaned in and planted a kiss right on her cheek. Silvia felt the blood rush to her face as the spot where his lips touched her scales seemed to tingle. In that instant, everything that had been bothering her disappeared, forgotten, replaced by nothing more than pure happiness.

As all this was going on, Sunni seemed to be an invisible entity in the background. As Aaron kissed Silvia on the cheek, she had to keep herself from going, "Awwwwww..." as to not ruin the mood. Mary had been worried that these two would try and kill each other if left alone. From what Sunni had just witnessed though, such a worry was nonsense. Figuring that these two needed some time alone, she silently stepped out from the room.

Sunni headed straight for the dining room, where most of the other guild members were already eating (Especially the Loudred she knew as Decibel, who was currently shovelling food into his big mouth). Several of them looked up as she entered.

"Hey Sunni, what took you? You almost missed dinner!" The Corphish a.k.a Jet gestured to her seat next to his, where her plate of food was waiting.

"Sorry, I was with Silvia."

"Who?"

"That Seviper."

"You MEAN the CRIMINAL?" Decibel somehow said between his mouthfuls of food.

"She's not a criminal!" Sunni's outburst slightly shocked Decibel, who stood there with his mouth wide open. Full of partially chewed food much to the dismay of his fellow diners. He quickly shut his mouth thanks to a glance from the walking sunflower, who on more than one occasion had proven to have a temper worse than an enraged Tauros.

"Alright, alright, calm down! So, where is she now?" Eric the Chimecho asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"With our patient." In that one instance, over half of the guild members either almost choked on their food or gagged on their drinks (with the other half spitting out said food or drink in shock). Once they recovered, Jet was the first to voice what they were all thinking.

"You left those two alone?! Are you nuts?! What if they kill each other?"

"Believe me, if you had seen what I saw, you would know that the chance of that happening is slim to none."

"But, leaving them alone, that's...that's-"

"What, Nuts? Insane? Makes no sense? Has any of the things that have occurred around here in the last few hours made any sense?"

Everyone shut up as they realised she was right, even Decibel. As Sunni took her place at her seat, she looked at all of them as they continued to stare at her. "Trust me, nothing will happen." With that, Sunni began to eat, silencing any further worries or questions anyone had yet to voice. But although the meal, almost every one of them, except for Sunni, feared that they would soon have a dead body on their hands.

* * *

Once everyone had finished dinner, Sunni went to check on their guests. Several of the guild members came with her, including Jet and Decibel. They came along to make sure what they feared hadn't happened. As they stepped into the room, Sunni had to resist the urge once again to go, "Awwww....."

Both of them were sleeping as sound as could be. Aaron was sleeping peacefully on his bed, which destroyed at least a few of their worries, while Silvia was curled up on one of the mats of hay, just a few feet from Aaron. If any of them had owned a camera, now would have been the perfect moment to use it.

"Huh, I guess our worries were nothing but nonsense. Looks like you were right Sunni. Sunni?" Jet turned to find that Sunni had disappeared. Seconds later, she stepped out from her room, carrying a spare wool blanket in her arms.

"What's with the blanket?"

"It's for Silvia. I figured she could use something to warm her up." Quietly tiptoeing across the room, Sunni unrolled the blanket before draping it over Silvia's body. Silvia didn't even stir from her sleep. As Sunni tiptoed back over, she gestured to the others, whispering "Let's go. After today, I'd say these two could use some rest." As quietly as possible, the bunch of them left, leaving their new guests to their dreams.

**End Chapter**

_I __**hate **__Magnezone's dialogue. It was either this, or make him speak in caps. Hopefully I chose the lesser of two evils…_


	6. A New Day Dawns

_Sorry about the wait. I decided to rewrite this chapter from near scatch. Hopefully, it's much better now. _

_Also, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed to this and my other stories as of now. Your reviews to me are like the sweetest of chocolates. _

_Anyway, this chapter gets the plot moving in the right direction, so...ENJOY! _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

As the members of the guild slept soundly that night, four Pokémon remained awake. These four were Wigglytuff, Chatot, Mary and Officer Magnezone. Shortly before nightfall, Wigglytuff had called them all to his chamber for an important meeting. No prizes for guessing what they were discussing.

"I still can't make heads or tails of this!" The Guildmaster's office was mostly soundproof, so Chatot's loud squawking wouldn't be able to wake the rest of the guild. "Why would a Seviper willingly come in here, carrying one of her species natural rivals, and ask us to help him? It makes no sense!"

"I've said that same thing about three times since I arrived." Mary responded to the frantic parrot.

"What's more, she's a wanted criminal! Why didn't you arrest her when you had the chance?!" Chatot pointed a wing accusingly at Magnezone, who was floating right beside Mary.

"I didn't arrest her because…" Magnezone paused mid-sentence as he glanced over at Mary, as if to ask her something. She just nodded in response to his silent question, before he continued. "…because we have reason to believe that she's innocent, zzzt."

"Innocent!?! Are you both out your minds?! What proof could you possibly have to-"

"I examined the Zangoose's wounds after I stopped the bleeding. Both the wound on his shoulder and neck are not consistent with a bladed weapon. They are consistent with injuries caused by claws though."

"Also, I checked with the town's folk. Several of them claim they've seen someone matching her description before in the last week or so. The last time she was seen was leaving town, carrying with her a bag of bandages and tonics, zzzt."

"Not to mention that she referred to this Zangoose as Aaron, which is the same name as the one mentioned in the wanted poster."

"It could be just a coincidence!"

"Face it Chatot, even you must see how all this stacks up!" Mary was starting to get ticked off with Chatot. For a bird, he could as stubborn as a mule. "Why can't you just accept it?"

"Why? Because...because it's impossible! She's a Seviper, him a Zangoose. Does being mortal enemies ring a bell to either of you?" At that, both Mary and Officer Magnezone went quiet. They glanced at each other once again, as if asking another silent question.

"While it is true that no normal Zangoose or Seviper would be caught dead together, zzzt…"

"Hah! See? I told yo-"

"...It is also true that neither of these two could be considered "normal" by this point."

"Huh?"

"When she asked me if he was okay, I could tell that she was truly and honestly worried about whether he was going to be alright. Also, from what I heard from Sunni, I believe it's more than that. I believe she may have a thing for him, as does he for her."

"You can't be serious!"

"Believe me, I'm dead serious."

"You're both ludicrous! Guildmaster, tell them how insane they sound!" Chatot turned to Wigglytuff, who seemed to be deep in thought about what had just been said. Or…he could have just been thinking about how many Perfect apples he could fit in his mouth at one time (Five). Hopefully it was the first choice and not the latter.

"Hmmm....I actually agree with what you two are saying."

"There, you see. Even the Guildmaster agrees with- WHAAAAAT?!" If Chatot's beak could have hung open any wider, it would have hit the ground.

"When she walked in, I knew from the moment I saw her that she cared more about this Zangoose then anything. I mean, she knew she was wanted as a criminal, and yet she still came to us for help. If that's not the act of someone in love, then I'll eat my hat!"

"Wigglytuff…you don't have a hat, zzzt."

"I don't? Well...I really should get one then!" As he laughed at his own joke, the rest of them couldn't help but sweatdrop at this and wonder how in the world this guy could be taken seriously as the very head of the guild.

"Regardless..." Wigglytuff continued once he had stopped laughing, "...we can't just throw them out on the streets. That's just not what we do here!"

"What do you suppose we do then?" Chatot was still unsure of this, but he decided to go along with Wigglytuff anyway. At Chatot's question, a strange look appeared in the pink fluff ball's eyes.

"I have an idea."

* * *

As the sun began to rise on another new day, it streamed across the right side of the guild. Peering in through the window of one of the rooms, it seemed to slowly move across the floor, almost like a searchlight. Moments later, the light of the morning sun passed over a certain black and gold-scaled serpent, still fast asleep. Her eyelids twitched as the light danced across her face, before slowly widening as she awoke. One thing you could say about Silvia: she wasn't normally an early riser.

"Ugh...stupid sunlight. Woke me up from a good dream." As she rose to rub the sleep from her eyes, she suddenly took notice of her surroundings. Panic momentarily set in, before the events of the day before hit her like a brick. Glancing across the room, Silvia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Aaron, still sound asleep. He was usually the one up early, so the fact that he was still asleep meant that either he was still weak from the day before, or that it was even earlier then when he usually woke up. Seeing as how it was already too late to try and fall back asleep, she decided to spend some time exploring the guild. Silvia had seen little of this place when she came in yesterday, so now was a good enough time as any to see if all the stories about this place were true.

As she silently slithered into the main foyer, Silvia really got a feel for how big this place really was. Aaron and her had had to come down two flights of stairs, making her at least 10-15 feet under the cliffside. The entire room seemed to have been dug with careful precision, the walls smoothed down like chiselled marble. The two things standing out were the doors to the Guildmaster's room, and a strange stone statue on the far side of the room shaped like a Croagunk. A constantly bubbling cauldron stood infront of the stone figure. Silvia wondered what it was for...

"You're up early." Silvia practically leapt from her scales when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. Spinning around, her tense muscles relaxed as she saw a familiar bright yellow face.

"Oh, it's just you. I thought I was the only one up."

Sunni just beamed her usual smile. "I'm a Sunflora, we rise with the sun. I'm usually the first one up for a while; it's nice to finally have some company."

"I should really go back and see..."

"Hey, I know! How about we go get something to eat before everyone gets up?"

"I'm...not that hungry really." As if to contradict this, Silvia's stomach took that moment to respond with a loud growl. Sunni just stared at her with a smug look on her face and her arms crossed across her chest.

"Not very hungry, huh?" Silvia didn't know how to respond at this point. Without another word, Sunni practically dragged Silvia towards the storeroom. Upon entering, Sunni went and grabbed a few plates, while Silvia just stood there gaping at the amount of food packed into this one room. Never in her life had she seen so much in one place. If a disaster stuck this town, there could probably be enough provisions to feed everyone in town for at least a month! As she tried to take in the size of the room versus the amount of food, she noticed a single box isolated from the rest of the supplies. The only thing she could see in the box appeared to be apples; though they weren't like any fruit she had ever seen. They looked twice as fresh and redder then a regular apple, almost seeming to glow. Slithering up to the box she reached for one of them when she heard Sunni say something from behind her.

"I wouldn't touch those if I were you."

"Why?"

"They're the Guildmaster's supply of Perfect apples, one of the only things he actually eats."

"Perfect apples?"

"A special kind of apple which only grows in one tree in the center of Apple forest. Chatot watches over them like a Pidgeot, counting them every meal to make sure none are missing. The Guildmaster throws a fit if we ever run out."

"You're kidding me."

"Wish I was. Now how about we get out of here before someone comes in?" Silvia turned to see Sunni trying to carry two plates full of food in one hand, and failing. Silvia quickly grabbed one before the Sunflower Pokemon completely tipped over as the two of them left the storeroom.

"You know, it's a good think that you got up so early. Now you won't have to be woken up by the morning alarm."

"Morning alarm?"

"Wait for it..." Sunni seemed to be expecting something, as she suddenly began counting under her breath. "3...2...1..."

"WAKE UP EVERBODY! IT'S MORNING! COME ON, GET UP!!!! " A loud booming voice rang through the guild, bouncing off the walls and only increasing in volume. If Silvia had possessed hands, she would have been using them to cover her ears to try and block out the sound. It lasted for a few more seconds, before the guild was once again quiet. Once the ringing in Silvia's head had stopped, she glanced over at Sunni, who seemed completely unaffected by the sudden assault on her eardrums.

"What was that?!"

"Decibel. Every morning he wakes up, and then proceeds to wake everyone else up. If anything, he's a nice alarm clock. You get used to it after a while." Silvia wondered how anyone could get used to being woken up each and every morning, by a loud noise which made their ears ring. As the rest of the guild began to get up, both of them made their way back to the spare room. Upon entering, they were greeted by the sight of Aaron sitting up in his bed, apparently woken up by Decibel's loud cries as he appeared to be trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"You're awake!" Aaron turned to her as she entered.

"No thanks to the ringing in my ears. Seriously, what was that?"

"Apparently, it was their morning alarm."

"Personally, I could think of a better way to wake myself up then a loud blaring in my head."

"Hello!" It was this point that Aaron noticed Sunni, as she seemed to once again melt into the background. "We haven't met before, but I'm Sunni!"

"Uh...hi."

"I brought you some food! Hope you like it!" Aaron seemed reluctant to take the plate, but she practically shoved it into his hands. He was about to respond with a "Thanks." when Sunni suddenly raced to the doorway.

"Gotta go! Morning chant's starting. See you two!" With that, Sunni left, leaving Silvia and Aaron partially speechless.

"She's...unusually peppy."

"I think she's actually like this every morning." Neither of them said anything further as they both started eating. Even though they ate in silence, an almost invisible tension seemed to hover overhead, as the same thought drifted through both their heads. Aaron was the first to eventually voice what they were both thinking.

"What happens now?"

As much as Silvia wanted to, she just didn't have an answer. "I don't know. I mean we can't stay here forever..."

"...And we can't leave with everyone claiming you're a wanted criminal."

"Not to mention what will happen once word of this reaches our families."

Aaron sighed before speaking. "As much as I'd hate to say this...I think we're done for. This could be the end for both of us."

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" Both of them looked up at the doorway, where a certain pink Pokemon stood with a large smile plastered on his face.

"Uh...who are you, exactly?"

" Why, I'm Wigglytuff! The Guildmaster around here!"

Aaron was dumbfounded. "You're...the Guildmaster? The so called "Legendary and undefeated warrior of untold power" Guildmaster?"

"Yep!" His constant expression of bliss only seemed to increase at being told how great he was. Meanwhile, Aaron was wondering if that ringing in his ear had somehow caused him some slight brain damage or if he was just hearing things.

"Anyway, I think I have a solution to all your problems!"

"You do?" Now Silvia was intrigued.

"Yep. You two won't have to leave! You can stay here, in Treasure Town!" Aaron and Silvia seemed to think of this for a moment. They glanced at each other for a second, before glancing back at the still smiling Wigglytuff.

"Are you sure that's really a good idea?" Silvia asked the overly excited Guildmaster. At this, his smile seemed to dwindle a little as he looked at her questioningly.

"Huh? Why wouldn't it be?"

"I mean, aren't you already in trouble for harbouring a fugitive?" Silvia hated calling herself a fugitive, but everyone else seemed fine in thinking she was one.

"Oh, that. You won't have to worry about that anymore. You're no longer on the wanted list!"

"I'm not?"

"Uh huh! Officer Magnazone removed you from the list himself just this morning. Also, since we don't have any other rooms available and I couldn't possibly ask you to live in this shack of a room, I found the perfect place for you to live! A friend of mine has a house they're trying to sell but no one is willing to buy it because of the price. It's perfect for you two!"

"Wait...wait a minute. If no one else could afford it, how can we? We don't have any money as it is." Aaron did have a point. It had been hard enough before to purchase a small bag of supplies, so how were they going to pay for an entire house?

"I've thought of that too. This friend happened to owe me a favour, so he was willing to drop the price by at least half. Not only that, but I also know how you can pay for it!"

"How?" They both asked in unison. Wigglytuff remained silent for several seconds, as if building up suspense for the reveal of the final part of his idea, an idea which he had surprisingly thought up in the course of ten minutes while droning out the sound of Chatot's arguing the night before.

"You two can work it off...as a Rescue Team!"

"A Rescue..."

"...Team?"

"Yep! It's the perfect idea, don't you think?"

"Well-"Aaron was quickly cut off as Wigglytuff began to jump for joy.

"Wonderful! I'll give you two some time to think about it while I get everything prepared! Bye-ah!" As he pranced happily from the room, both Aaron and Silvia, like most people, were rendered silent as they wondered how this bouncing ball of joy could ever be considered or even taken seriously as a Guildmaster.

"You know... he actually does have a point. We certainly can't go back home, what with you believed to be dead and me your accused murderer. At least if we stay here, we'll have a place to stay and a chance to earn a decent living opposed to just running and hiding day in and day out."

Aaron seemed to consider this for a few moments. "Well...when you put it that way...I guess we could give it a shot."

The next few days proved to be some of the longest. When Aaron and Silvia had decided to take Wigglytuff up on his offer, the giddy Guildmaster had been literally jumping for joy. While the two of them were taught the basics of the guild, the mission system and such, they were also trying to come up with a reasonable name for their soon to be team. After much discussing and at least two dozen different choices, they finally decided on a name they both could agree on: Poison Claw. They had also been introduced formally to the other members of the guild, though Chatot still gave them a funny look whenever he saw them. He'd hopefully get over it eventually.

Meanwhile, Aaron's condition continued to improve. The two major injuries on his right shoulder and neck were still healing, but they weren't as serious as when he'd first come in. Also, thanks to a personal concoction of Mary's, the snapped bone in his leg was healing faster than expected, though he still needed the help of a walking stick to get around.

Somehow, either by a slip of the tongue or a carefully listening ear, word had spread like wildfire through town of a new Rescue Team, as well as information about its members. Most met the rumour of a Zangoose/Seviper Team with disbelief, saying it was impossible, a pure work of fantasy. Some of the more open-minded listeners though wondered about these two and how they had come to arrive in Treasure Town. Groups of townsfolk had actually flocked to the guild, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything that could prove or disprove the rumours. The Guildmaster though, despite his overly joyful appearance, had continued to keep a tight lid on the whole thing. It would have been easier to get blood from a stone then information from Wigglytuff.

About three days after Silvia and Aaron had arrived at the guild, Wigglytuff came up to them with an odd request. His friend (who Wigglytuff continued to keep anonymous) had finished setting everything for them to purchase the house in a series of easy payments. According to him, they could move in anytime, he just needed them to come over and see it for themselves. Now, neither of them had left the guild since all this had begun, as they were unsure how the resident Pokémon would respond to them.

When Silvia mentioned this to Wigglytuff, he simply brushed it off saying, "Oh, I wouldn't worry! I'm sure you'll both be fine!", before handing Aaron a quickly drawn note of directions as he left. Aaron took one look at the directions and immediately noticed they'd have to pass straight through the center of town.

"I just hope he's right…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Treasure town was its usual busy self. Several rescue teams were exchanging information as well as stories and the Kecleon brothers shop was as always open. The purple Kecleon brother, Saki, was currently processing a customer's purchases.

"Alright, that's three TM's and six orbs which comes to...which comes to..." Saki suddenly started to mumble incoherently as he caught sight of something in the distance. The chatter of rescue teams was silenced almost immediately as everyone took notice of Aaron and Silvia. Duskull was hiding behind his counter, praying that this wasn't a bad omen. All activity had come to a halt, as the two of them stepped into town.

Silvia could feel their eyes following her and Aaron, which she tried to ignore as best she could. "Are you sure the directions Wigglytuff gave us are correct?"

"He checked them himself. Walk past Kecleon's market, and then take a left until you see a building at the end of the road. Though, I wouldn't put it past him to send us on a detour of some kind-"

"HEY! YOU TWO!" Both of them halted in their tracks before turning around to face whoever it was the sudden voice belonged to. Standing a few feet away from them was Team Razor Wind, with Claw standing ahead of his two teammates. While his teammates looked like they were trying to stop their leader from doing something foolish, Claw seemed royally ticked off.

Silvia recognized Claw immediately. "Hey, you're that guy from before!"

Claw ignored Silvia completely as he spoke. "So, it is true. There is a Zangoose who would sink low enough to side himself with one of those worthless serpents. Have you no shame!?" He glared angrily at Aaron. "By simply knowing this serpent, you've tarnished the good name of your very species! Your ancestors must be rolling over in their graves at the mere mention of your-"

"Are you done?" Claw nearly fell over in shock when his monologue was cut short. Aaron didn't even seem fazed by Claws outburst, standing there as if waiting for the easily angered Zangoose to finish. The leader of Team Razor Wind snarled in frustration at the lack of a favoured response.

"Hey! Don't interrupt me! I wasn't finished!"

Aaron didn't even flinch at this. "Does it matter?"

"Why you-!!!!" Before his teammates could stop him, Claw extended his claws, just itching for a fight. Aaron was about to ready his claws in response, when Silvia suddenly stopped him.

"I'll do it. Your wounds still need time to heal, plus there's something about this guy that just ticks me off." Silvia scraped the end of her bladed tail against the ground, a sign that she was preparing herself for battle.

"Be my guest then." As Aaron stepped back, Claw took that time to charge, his claws fully drawn. The second the enraged Zangoose came close enough, Silvia lashed out with her tail, once again knocking his feet out from under him and causing him to land flat on his face. Before he could get up though, he was hoisted up by the ankle of his right leg. For the second time in less than a week, Claw was hurled through the air, crashing against Duskull's bank before falling to the ground. If this had been a cartoon, a flock of imaginary Pidgey would have been fluttering around his head.

"Well, that takes care of him."

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"A little. Now, we should really find this place Wigglytuff spoke of." With that, the two of them continued their stroll through town, unaware as nearly every pair of eyes in the general area followed them in complete shock and disbelief.

* * *

_Present Day..._

_It's amazing how time can change things._ Silvia placed her book on the table beside her before getting up from her chair. She had been reading continuously for the last few hours, lost in the world of the story. As she slithered into the kitchen, she saw Aaron was currently scrolling through several new mission statements while snacking on another Tamato berry.

"Anything good?" He looked up from the papers as she spoke.

"Well, one or two criminal reports as well as a few exploration missions. No escort missions though, thank Arceus."

"They're not that bad."

"Speak for yourself. I spend half the time trying to keep them from barging in to danger, while somehow being unable to avoid it myself." He took another bite of his spicy snack before returning his gaze back to the papers infront of him. "Once we complete these, we can take the whole weekend off."

"A whole weekend off… Finally, we can just relax instead of worrying about missions!"

"We still need to pay the usual fee for this house, not to mention-"

"Aaron. Don't ruin the moment." She glared at him for a minute, which he just responded with his own amusing smirk.

"You're right. Nothing to worry about."

Little did either of them know how wrong they were. For soon, very soon, their entire world would come crashing down around them.

* * *

If anyone had been near Dark Crater, they would have noticed an eerie silence suddenly overtake the area. Not to say that Dark crater was usually a hectic area of activity, just that it was too quiet. The lava had ceased to bubble, any inhabitants had disappeared from the area, and even the very air seemed to have vanished in fear. The only thing that could be heard was a low, ominous chanting echoing from the very pits of the crater.

In the farthest cavern, six figures stood. Each was draped in an identical crimson cloak, hiding their features from any peering eyes. They all stood in a circle, surrounding the exact center of the crater. If anyone had been around to hear or see this, this is what would have reached their ears.

"_Oh Lord of Darkness, hear our cries. Oh Lord of Darkness hear our cries." _This one line, being repeated over and over again, seemed to flow into the molten rock itself, in turn radiating an energy, which would send a chill down any spine. The very crater seemed to pulsate with life, as if drawn out by the very words of these beings. As they continued to chant these words, one of them stepped forward, their leader. He stopped once he was in front of a small pool of lava marking the center of the chamber. Seemingly out of nowhere, a strange weapon, similar to a lance in appearance, slid from his long sleeve. Wielding the weapon in his right hand, the leader of this strange group raised his free hand to silence his followers.

Once they were quiet, he spoke in a voice that was like nails against glass. "Oh mighty being of darkness, we awaken you from your slumber to aid us in our quest. Now, arise!" With a flick of his wrist, he plunged the lance deep into the ground. As the weapon made contact with the lava and brimstone, a cloud of what appeared to be black smoke began to billow from the ground below. Acting with a life all its own, the smoke began to move and converge on one central spot. As it began to take shape, a pair of deep blue orbs peered out onto the land below and the figures before it. At the same time, a deathly voice filled the air.

"_You...why have you summoned me..." _This deathly voice seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere all at once. It reverberated in the very souls of those standing before it, filling them with a feeling of dread and despair.

The head of this strange cult, who seemed unaffected by this entity's spellbinding effect, wasted no time in getting to the point. _"_We require your services at this time, oh lord of shadows."

"_And what makes you think...that I would help you?"_

"Oh, but you will. For you see, we can give you what you have lost. The power to take this world for your own! The power to tear away the veil of reality and return it to what it what once: a world of fear, misery and hopelessness! All we ask in return…is that you eliminate two certain thorns in our sides."

"_Hmmm..." _The phantasm seemed to give the offer some thought. "_Tell me then… Who are these two you speak of...?"_

"They are known...as Aaron Zangoose and Silvia Seviper, who also go by the name of Team Poison Claw. We have already pinpointed their location, now all we need is your...expertise to dispose of them."

"_A Rescue Team..." _Although the shadowy entity lacked a mouth, it seemed to smile an evil smile of joy. "_Very well_. _Once I deal with these two, I will finally be able to take my revenge on the one's who defeated me so long ago. They will soon learn...you can't vanquish the darkness forever!" _

**End Chapter**


	7. Fear Itself

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. **

A flash of light pierced the normally calm night, as a bolt of lightning shot towards the ground, soon followed by the loud roar of thunder. The sudden thunderstorm had come from nowhere, clouding the moon and stars in thick, dark and ominous clouds. The streets of Treasure Town had cleared mere moments after the clouds had rolled in. Most stores had closed for the night, which brings us to the newest building in town: Pheon's Tea Shop/Bar, depending on who you talked to.

The owner in question was currently cleaning up for the night. The chairs were stacked atop the tables, the floor had just been cleaned of any mess, and the liquor cabinet had already been locked with about half a dozen different locks and even more keys. At the moment, Pheon was fixing herself a nice calming brew of tea before bed. Even on a night such as this, such a drink would help her sleep soundly till morning.

"And to think..." Pheon muttered to herself as she poured herself a cup of tea,"...I always used to bug her about this. Mom always said a nice brew never failed to put her in a good mood. I wonder what she would think of me now, seeing me with my own shop centered on something I thought was trivial and useless." While it was true that this store had since become a tribute to her dearly departed mother, it had started out with another purpose. A sort of…cleansing purpose.

Unbeknownst to Pheon, a dark shadow had begun to pass over her shop. Like a fog rolling by, a strange dark mist began to seep in from under the door. As if gifted with a life of its own, the mist slowly crept across the floor towards the main counter. Pheon remained oblivious as she tossed her tea cup into the sink, before getting up and heading for bed. The dark fog continued to travel behind her, like a dog on the heels of its master. Rising up from the ground, several strands of this ominous mist seemed to converge into the form of a single clawed arm, which slowly reached out for its victim's neck. Inching closer, and closer...

"HI-YAH!" In one swift motion, Pheon spun around to deliver a kick to whatever was behind her. To her surprise, her foot hit nothing but air. She reluctantly lowered her leg back down, her sharp eyes glancing over every inch of the shop for head or toe of any unwanted visitor. After a second or two, she sighed as her muscles relaxed.

"Must've imagined it." Brushing it off as pure paranoia, she once again set off towards her room. The moment she turned around, the mist slithered out from the shadow of one of the tables, once again reeling up and reaching a dark hand towards the female Blaziken. The claws of the hand seemed to extend as they came closer towards the waiting flesh...

With speed that would rival a Ninjask, Pheon's right arm shot over her left shoulder, grabbing the assailant just below the wrist. With one swing of her arm, her attacker was hurled across the room in the same way one would throw a frisbee, eventually stopping after colliding with a row of stacked chairs. The remains of said chairs littered the floor in chunks, completely torn apart from the force of the throw.

"I knew I wasn't imagining things! Thought you could sneak up on me did you?" Instead of responding with words, a pulse of dark energy shot towards her. Pheon quickly ducked to avoid the attack, only to have the blast continue behind her and smash against the shelves behind the counter, causing its cargo to smash and spill against the floor.

"Hey! You're gonna pay for that!" Slighting ticked off by having some of her inventory destroyed, Pheon lashed out with a fireball across the room. She saw a dark figure leap from behind a table before the fireball collided with it, causing the wooden construct to burst into flames. Another energy blast streaked from her mysterious attacker, this one much bigger than the last.

Time seemed to slow down considerably as Pheon caught sight of the oncoming projectile. Like a master acrobat, the storekeeper back flipped into the air, seeming to hang in mid-air as the blast barrel past her and smashed into the far wall again, before landing perfectly behind the counter. Touching ground, she fired another fireball towards her attacker. She didn't disappoint, as the attack hit its mark and blew the table to pieces, followed by a grunt of pain from her would-be assailant.

"I still got it." Waiting a moment for any response, she climbed out from behind the counter and made her way across the room towards what remained of the tables and chairs among the flames. The thought of "_So much for cleaning this place up "_passed through her head as she walked past the splintered pieces of debris littering the floor.

"Thought you could just waltz in here and catch me off guard? HA!" Kneeling down, she grabbed the end of what remained of the table and began to lift it off the intruder. "To even think that a petty criminal could ever hope to win against-"

When the table was finally lifted off, a look of shock appeared on Pheon's face. Underneath the tabletop was...nothing. Where there should have been an unconscious body was empty space. The flames were spread around the spot in the shape of a body, not to mention the lack of fragments, all pointed to there being someone here not too long ago. So where was he now!?

"_Right here..." _Before she could even turn around, she was blown back by a blast to her back, throwing her hard against the far wall. As she struggled to raise her head, a dark shadow seemed to hover above her, peering down on her with a pair of bright blue eyes.

"_What was that you were saying? Just a petty criminal?" _The shadow laughed at her before continuing. "_Believe me, criminals run in fear at the sight of me. I am fear itself!"_

Picking herself up, she ignored the pain of that last attack still coursing through her body. "Is that so? Well...I'll give you something to be afraid of!" Cloaking her fist in the flames emanating from her wrists, she lashed out with a fire punch to her attackers gut. Imagine her shock, when her fist passed right through the phantasm, causing her to stumble forward and almost fall flat on her face.

"Wha-?"

The shadowy entity only chuckled at this display. "_Sorry, but your attacks won't work on me. Luckily for me..._" Pheon barely had time to gasp, before she felt a clawed hand wrap tightly around her neck. Like she weighed next to nothing, she was lifted into the air, her feet dangling inches off the ground.

"_...The reverse isn't true_." Forming another arm out of his seemingly misshapen mass of shadow, a dark ball of energy formed in the palm of his clawed hand. "_Let me give you a taste of my power!_" With that, he released her from his grasp, before driving the attack forcibly into her gut. The ball of energy seemed to explode on contact, the force of the blast once again throwing her across the room and through several sets of stacked chairs and tables, adding to the already large pile of destroyed furniture. The loud crash that followed would have normally resulted in people rushing towards the shop, but the noise of the fight was being drowned out by the heavy rainfall and constant crashing of thunder.

Not a further sound was made, as the shadow seemed to drift through the air towards the pile of smashed wood that had once been tables and chairs. Before he came close enough, splitters of wood and sawdust seemed to explode into the air, as Pheon pushed her way out from under the debris. She was bruised from the crash, but still strong enough to fight; both wrists were spewing flames as if to show this.

"_Impressive. Not many can get up when I put them down_."

"It'll take a lot more than the likes of you to make me give up!" She practically spat the sentence into his face as he just looked at her, as if mocking her with his very glance.

"_I wouldn't expect anything less...from the 'Black Phoenix.'"_ He smiled as he saw the look of pure shock spread across her face, her eyes widen in shock, the flames dying down on her wrists as she took a step back in shock.

"But...how..."

Taking advantage of this momentary lapse, another orb of energy formed in his "hand". This orb was different from his last though, as swirl of crimson tinted its core. With a grin plastered on his nonexistent face, he hurled the orb towards the shocked Pokémon. By the time she noticed, it was too late, as the orb grew to ten times its size, completely enveloping her in darkness. As it dissipated, Pheon's unconscious body slumped to the ground with a loud thump.

"_To think, they said you were the best there was_. _Guess they were wrong._" As he hovered over her unconscious body, he turned his gaze to his left arm. The misshapen mass of shadow seemed to bend and twist, before taking the form of real flesh and blood. The phantasm flexed his new limb, testing its worth.

"_My power is slowly returning, but I will need more if I am to accomplish my goals." _Sticking his new arm out infront of him, a purple aura of energy began to emanate from the appendage, before an identical aura surrounded Pheon's motionless body. The two auras pulsated in time with the other, before tendrils of energy seemed to rise off of the unconscious Blaziken, flocking to the shadow like a bird to water. A look of fear and torment ran across Pheon's face, as her deepest fears played out in her mind.

"_Yes...that's it. Your fear feeds me... Let your fears overtake you...and make me stronger!" _The dark being's laughter echoed through the building, oblivious to any outside by the loud crack of thunder.

* * *

Silvia was silently humming to herself as slithered through town. Aaron and her had left early in the morning to get a start on their missions for the day. Despite the high difficulty level on most of them though, the missions couldn't have been easier. With a criminal slipping and knocking himself out, a hard to find item on the first floor and with almost no resistance from inhabiting Pokémon, they had been able to finish before midday. Such a day like this had put both of them in a good mood, as now they had an entire weekend to themselves. Silvia's first stop in town was Pheon's shop, a usually bustling place by this time of day before a weekend. She wondered if Pheon would find their current missions as funny as she-

"Huh?" Silvia stopped dead in her tracks as she arrived at her destination. Instead of the usual chime of chatter echoing from the windows on the side of the building, a deathly silence seemed to hover over the structure. Not a light peeked out from within, which confused Silvia. In the months that Pheon had lived in town, not once had she not been open, even working one day when she sounded like she was going to cough up a lung.

"She never said anything about closing today." Making her way to the front door, she knocked against the door with her tail. The moment her scales touched wood, the door slowly creaked open, emitting an almost horror movie like sound. This unnerved her even more, as she knew her Blaziken friend had an almost insane habit of locking her doors every night.

Sticking her head inside, she peered through the room for any sign of life. What she saw caused her to gasp in shock. It looked like a warzone! Shrapnel from broken tables and chairs littered the floor, with what remained lying forgotten in the corner. The remains of what had once been the liquor cabinet lay hanging open like an open wound, spilling its contents onto the floor below. Nothing inside resembled what it had once been less then 24 hours ago.

"This can't be good. Pheon? Pheon, you here?" When she got no answer, she pushed her way inside. Slithering around the broken chunks of chairs and tables, she scanned the room for any sign of red or blond feathers. As she approached what had once been the main bar, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Sticking out from under a pile of destroyed tables, was a Blaziken arm.

"Pheon!" Without a moments hesitation, Silvia rushed over and shoved a broken tabletop over, revealing Pheon's injured body. Cuts and bruises seemed to cover almost every inch of her body, even on her eyelids. For a moment, Silvia worried that she may be dead, but that fear soon passed as she noticed that Pheon was still breathing.

She needed to get Mary. That became clear almost immediately. Silvia had no idea how to deal with injuries this bad, but a Chansey like Mary would know exactly what to do. Although it pained her to just leave her friend lying there, she turned and raced out the door, heading straight for the nursery where Mary worked.

* * *

"Straight. I win again." Everyone groaned as Aaron won for the fifth time in a row. Shortly after they had come back from their series of incredibly easy high level missions, Decibel had invited him to a game of cards with Jet, Eric and the owner of the Croakgunk Trade shop, Lector. It soon became apparent though, that whatever luck had helped him on his missions, had also followed him back to Town.

"GEEZ! Not even a HERD of Rapidash have this much LUCK! Sunni's going to KILL me when she learns I just lost the REWARD from our last MISSION!"

"You lost WHAT?!?!" All the color immediately drained from Decibel's face. Slowly, he turned in his chair, coming face to face with a severely pissed off Sunflora. Her arms were crosses infront of her chest, and she glared at him with a look that could split stone.

"Uhh...did I just say that OUTLOUD?"

"Decibel...why you-"

Whatever anger she was about unleash upon the Loudred was suddenly cut short, as an alarm rang through the guild. Everyone immediately got up and headed for the main chamber, where someone was currently being carried in on a stretcher by a pair of Magnemites, with Mary right behind. It didn't take long for everyone to recognize who the patient was.

"Hey, isn't that Pheon? Shhh, Shhh." Lector made a strange hissing sound as he spoke.

"It is!" Eric's bell chimed in time with his current state of shock. "I wonder what happened to her?"

"MAYBE she got into a FIGHT with an unruly customer." Decibel suggested.

"No way! I saw her hurl a Machamp through a window!" Jet piped in.

As the others discussed what they thought had happened, Aaron noticed a familiar figure follow Mary down the stairs. "Silvia!" She looked up as he ran over to her.

"Silvia, what happened?"

"I...I don't know. I saw that her shop wasn't open, which was unusual, so I poked my head in to see if she was there. I found her like this."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little uneasy." She glanced up as Pheon's unconscious body was carried into one of the extra rooms. "I thought today was our lucky day. I never expected this to happen!"

* * *

Time seemed to crawl by, as the minutes felt like hours and the hours felt like days. Aaron and Silvia had returned home shortly after Pheon had been admitted, where Mary had promised to call them if anything happened. At the moment, the two of them were just trying to pass the time on what had started out as a favourable day, which had been meant to lead into a free weekend for the both of them.

Silvia was trying to catch up on where she had left off in her book, but she seemed unable to focus. She had already reread the same paragraph at least three times. Meanwhile, Aaron was leaning against the wall while using his claw to carve out a piece of wood. It was a hobby he had developed while they still had lived in their old homes, though he too seemed unable to focus as he had nearly worn the piece down to nothing.

After another failed attempt at trying to concentrate on her book, Silvia final gave up. As she placed it back on the table beside her, she turned to Aaron. "I just can't believe it. Who would attack Pheon? I can't think of anyone who didn't like her, except for a few customers she may have thrown out."

"Whoever it was, Magnezone said he'd put all his forces on finding them. Knowing him, he won't stop until he finds something."

"But, what if he-"

Both of them froze as the sound of three solid knocks echoed against their front door. Tossing his failed piece over his shoulder, Aaron walked up and swung the door open. They were both expecting Mary with news of Pheon, but who they saw was certainly a surprise.

"Hello Aaron, zzzt."

_Well, speak of the devil. "_Officer Magnezone. What a surprise."

"I apologize for bothering you at a time like this, but may I come in, zzzt?"

"Of course." Stepping back to let the giant hovercraft pass, Magnezone floated down the hall towards the main chamber.

"Hello Silvia, zzzt." Magnezone greeted her as he entered. Silvia climbed from her chair as the huge Pokémon floated over to the center of the room.

"What is it? Did you find anything about who attacked Pheon?"

"Actually, no. I'm here because we found something while going through the wreckage of Pheon's tavern. Something I think you two should see, zzzt" It was then that they noticed the parchment curled up in Magnezone's left "hand". He quickly unfurled it and laid it before him for them to see. It didn't take long for them to realise what it was.

"This is..."

"Yes, a wanted poster. Your wanted poster to be exact Silvia, zzzt."

"But-but why would Pheon have this? She didn't come to town until after I had been cleared."

"I believe I may have the answer to that as well. We also found this, zzzt." With a click, the large officer removed something he had stuck to the side of his metal body with his strong magnetism. He handed the object to Aaron, allowing the Zangoose to get his first good look at it. It was a badge, but none like any he'd ever seen before. It was composed of a single piece of metal on a blue backing. Engraved onto the medal were the numbers "4594" as well as the initials "S.S".

"I've never seen a badge like this."

"Few have. For you see, that badge belongs to an elite guild of assassins, of which most of is shrouded in mystery and secrecy. The only thing known about them is their name, "The Swift Strikes", hence the initials. Most underground communities fear them, as they've been known to be some of the most brutal, as well as efficient of killers.

"Pheon...an assassin?" Silvia could hardly comprehend such a thing. Here was Magnezone, telling her that the Blaziken she had known for the past few months had once been an assassin? Not only that, but Pheon's last mission had been to take out her! Or...was it still her mission? Could this entire thing have been an elaborate plan in order for Pheon to get close to her?

She was jarred from her thoughts, by another knock on the door. Slithering up to it, she eased it open. Standing infront of her was an extremely exhausted Jet. He looked like he had run straight here from the guild, and running was something the crab Pokémon didn't exactly excel at.

"Silvia...Mary...need...see...Pheon...wake..." Jet was gasping for breath, making half of what he was trying to say a garbled mess.

"Jet, breathe!"

Stopping, Jet took one long gasp of air, before once again speaking. "Silvia, Mary told me to come get you. She said Pheon's awake and wants to talk to you." Once he had finished his message, he noticed that all three of them were staring at him. "What?"

"Pheon wants to talk to Silvia…alone, zzzt?"

"Yeah, that's what she said. Why? Is there a problem with that?"

"No, no problem at all." Silvia response was something that neither Aaron, nor Magnezone were expecting.

"Silvia, if what we just learned is true, being alone with her for any amount of time could be dangerous. This could very well be a trap!"

"I don't care. I need to know the truth, and the only way I'm going to get it is from Pheon herself." With that, she slithered past the still confused Jet and made her way towards the guild. She didn't get far, before she heard the sound of someone running up behind her. She didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"Aaron, I said I'm going."

"And I won't stop you. Just consider me back-up in case something happens."

"You mean in case she attacks me."

"Whatever you wanna call it, I'm still going with you." She didn't argue with him further, as they both set off for the guild. Behind them, Jet was still lost on what they were talking about.

"Um...did I miss something?"

**End Chapter **


	8. From the Ashes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

The walk to the guild was unusually quiet. Neither Aaron nor Silvia spoke a word between them as they passed through town, though both of them were thinking about what they now knew. If they hadn't of seen the badge and poster for themselves, neither of them wouldn't have believed it. Pheon…an assassin? Whenever you pictured such a person, you almost always envisioned them as dark, quiet and unemotional characters, who would willingly take a life if simply asked. Pheon on the other hand, was the complete opposite. She was bright, loud and always knew how to put others in a good mood. Could Magnezone have made a mistake?

After several more minutes of utter silence, they finally reached the guild. Unlike them, the rest of the guild had managed to preoccupy their time with missions, instead of just standing around. This meant that the guild was next to empty, except for the Guidmaster and Chatot (who both almost never left), Mary and, of course, Pheon. Mary greeted them as they entered.

"I'm glad you got my message. I was afraid that Jet had collapsed on the way there."

"He was certainly close to."

"Anyway, Pheon's room is just down the hall, third door on your left." Silvia nodded as she slithered past. Aaron was about to follow behind her, when Mary suddenly pushed him back, almost causing him to lose his balance and topple over.

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry Aaron, but Pheon has asked that she speak to Silvia alone. You'll have to wait out here."

Aaron glanced over at Silvia, who caught his gaze. She just smiled and calmly responded, "Don't worry. I'll be fine." before continuing towards Pheon's room. As she moved further down the hall, the first few thoughts of doubt began to make their appearance. Could it really be true? Could what Officer Magnezone had told them have been correct? Banishing these thoughts from her mind, she stood for a moment infront of the doorway, took a deep breath to calm her nerves and slithered into the room.

Pheon was in bad shape. At least half of her body was covered in bandages, which consisted of portions of her legs, arms, torso and even a few bandages wrapped tightly around a wound on her forehead. She glanced up as Silvia entered.

"Hey Silvia! Glad you could come! I was worried you might have forgotten about me!" Even in pain from her injuries, Pheon was still the bright and happy person she always was. Silvia didn't respond, just stood there as Pheon continued to talk.

"I heard that you were the one who found me. That makes us even for the scarf I had that Smeargle paint for you. Speaking of which, how'd he take it?" Silvia remained silent, which was starting to worry the injured Blaziken.

"What's with the silent treatment? Come on Silvia, don't leave me hanging!"

Silvia's eyes drifted to the ground for a moment, before glancing up once again towards Pheon. "Magnezone found something while going through the wreckage of your shop. He found your badge, as well as a copy of my wanted poster."

At the mention of those two objects, the smile on Pheon's face slowly dwindled. She turned her head away until she was staring at the ceiling, as if lost in thought. She remained this way for a few seconds before answering with a sigh, "I had hoped no one would ever know. It's not exactly something I'm proud of."

"Then it's true? You were …" Silvia almost couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Yes Silvia. Once upon a time…I was an assassin. A bringer of death, the fear hiding in the shadows, your darkest nightmares come to life. Even hardened criminals ran in fear of me, constantly glancing over their shoulder, hoping to Arceus that I wasn't there."

Silvia was shocked. She had been silently hoping that what Magnezone had said had been nothing but false accusations. It didn't seem possible that it could have been true, but hearing it from Pheon herself…that was the act that set everything in stone for her.

"But…but why Pheon? You're the last person anyone could suspect of such a thing!"

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

"Tell me anyway."

"Well…" Pheon paused for a moment as she prepared to tell her story. "I guess you could say my life was never normal from the start. My parents were…well, complete opposites. My mom was the most peaceful Blaziken you could ever meet. Anger seemed to be a word missing from her vocabulary. Never once did she yell, scream, or get mad at me for anything I may have done. And believe me; she certainly had more than enough chances with the way I acted."

"My dad on the other hand, was no stranger to violence. He never told us what he did, but secretly I knew it wasn't something good."

Silvia already knew the answer to that. "S.S"

"Would you believe he was their top member? From the day I was born, all he seemed to want to do was groom me to follow in his footsteps. The only thing standing in his way though, was my mom. She tried her hardest to protect me, but in doing so, couldn't protect herself."

"Her illness came without warning. Within days, it had ravaged her body, making her weaker and weaker by the minute. Though even through all that, even with the pain I'm sure she was in, she was never without a smile on her face. I wish I could say she fought it off and lived, but then I'd be lying."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. The only one who was sorry was me. With my mother out of the way, there was nothing stopping my father from taking me under his wing. He worked me day and night, night and day, mostly to the point that every muscle in my body would be screaming in pain, praying for death but never receiving it. When I failed to meet up to his strict standards, he would usually kick me while I was down, but not before reminding me of how "useless" and "weak" I was. I swear, his words hurt me more than any physical pain he could inflict on me. "

"Eventually, a wall began to form between me and my soul. This only worsened after I started going on "missions". With each kill, the pain of the shame and remorse lessened until it no longer managed to faze me."

"After that, it didn't take me long to grow a reputation among the underground. I became known as 'The Black Phoenix', a name which only further spread after I begun painting my body black and silver to make it easier to hide from my targets. Looking back on it now, I cannot believe how ridiculous I must have looked." Pheon laughed as the image of her all doled out in black entered her head.

"Anyway, as my body count continued to rise over the years, I became more and more distant from the world. It got to the point where I didn't even recognize myself in a mirror! I was nearing the point of no return by then and I would have certainly been driven over the edge. That all changed though…the day I got you as my next target."

"The job seemed simple enough compared to my others: 'Take out a single target hiding out in Treasure town', easy money in my line of work. Finding you was also no challenge. When you came back after buying some supplies, I was there, hiding on the other side of the wall. I watched Aaron freak out over drinking that medicine while you laughed the whole time. Most would have been confused as to why you were hanging out with a Zangoose, but that was the least of my concerns. Everything was going fine, until 'they' showed up."

"They? You mean Team Rollout?"

"Yep. Once they showed up, my plans pretty much went out the window. Actually, those three idiots may have actually been a blessing in disguise. They'd barged in just as I was about to dash in myself, which meant I needed to change my plan, quickly. I waited until the perfect moment, which showed itself when you left. To me, this was nothing new. Most of my targets would run or leave a decoy in order to get away, though it never worked for them. Like with my targets before, I waited for you to get far enough away that you thought you were home free before giving chase."

"Everything was perfect. You had stopped in the middle of the hall for one reason or another, which worked in my favor. Ever so slightly, I snuck up behind you, my claws already prepped for the kill. You seemed to be preoccupied with something, which made it that much easier. With the quickness and expertise of an unknown number of kills under my belt, I reached out for your neck when suddenly…I froze."

"To say I was in shock would be putting it mildly. I urged my body to move, to make the kill, but nothing happened. Each time I tried to move, the image of a silhouetted figure seemed to pass before my eyes, almost like a ghost had possessed my body. When I did finally move, it was against my will, as I pressed myself against the wall so to avoid being noticed. It was at that moment that you turned around and headed back, despite the fact that you were literally running into danger."

"You may not believe it, but that simple action came as a complete surprise to me. As I already said, many of my targets had tried running before, leaving others to their fate while trying to save their own skin. But never had any of them ever gone back. I was in a state of complete disbelief. I was so still and silent, that you actually ran past me and didn't notice. As I stood there, a million questions sudden shot through my head like bolts of lightning. What about the others I had killed over the years? Would they have gone back if given the chance? Did they have someone they cared enough about to literally run headfirst into danger to help them? In that moment, the wall that had separated my body and soul for so long finally shattered under the pressure."

"What followed were all the emotions I had kept pent up over the years, as they came flooding back. Fear, anger, remorse, shock, regret…all of it hit me like a ton of bricks. Every murder I had committed over the years ran through my head in an endless loop, forcing me to relive the agony over and over. It would have continued on forever if the cavern hadn't begun to crumble around me. I must have blacked out after that, because the next thing I remember was standing outside the remains of Beach cave. My legs immediately buckled out from under me and I fell to my knees, literally on the ground crying, once again wishing I could just die. I lay there for what felt like hours, just wishing that something would come and end my miserable life. Then, I heard a voice. It almost seemed to echo inside my head; like it was something I had heard long ago and was only now remembering."

"All it said was, _'You'll get through this. You always do!' _That single encouraging thing was all it took to get me back on my feet." As Pheon retold this, tears began to run down the side of her face. "To this day I still wonder who it was helping me that day, but I hold onto the belief that it was my mother's spirit watching over me, guiding me back onto the right path despite the fact that that path had become derailed years ago." Wiping the tears from her face, Pheon continued retelling her tale.

"I quit the S.S the next day. By the time they realized what I was doing, I was nothing but dust in the wind. I had thrown away my dark self, the side of me my father had nourished and grown through tough training and hate, and instead decided to follow in my mother's footsteps. So, taking what money I could before my account was shut down, I moved here and set up my store, kind of a small tribute to my mother in a way."

"I kept the badge and poster as a reminder. A reminder of the monster I had once been, as well as a reminder of that day, the one day I failed to finish an assignment. I figured I would never see you again, but imagine my surprise when you walked in on the opening day! It was amazing that I didn't completely freak-out then and there. The rest, as they say, is history."

As Pheon finished her tale, she looked over at Silvia as she took in everything the injured Blaziken had told her. While she had come here seeking answers, what Pheon had just told her was something she had never expected to here. She hardly knew how to respond to this.

"Now that I think about it, if you count what happened today, that makes it twice you've saved my life. I guess that means I owe you."

"Actually…" Silvia finally seemed to find her voice. "…Considering you didn't kill me back then when you had the chance, I'd say we're even." They both shared a laugh at that, though Pheon's was cut short as her head began to painfully throb.

"Ughh…hey, Silvia. If you don't mind, I think it's about time I tried to get some sleep. Mary did say it would help me heal faster."

"Right. See ya then." Silvia was about to leave, when Pheon sudden stopped her.

"Wait! You never answered my question! The scarf for Aaron, did he like it?"

Silvia turned to her friend, smiled, and simply responded, "He's still wearing it." Leaving Pheon to think about that, Silvia slithered from the room. She hadn't gotten far, when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Leaving so soon?"

Silvia glanced back behind her to see Aaron leaning against the outside wall of Pheon's room, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at her with an expression that said, _"Forgetting something?"_

"Aaron? How long have you been standing there?"

"I came in around the time she called Team Rollout a "blessing in disguise".

"But I thought Mary wouldn't let you by."

" I snuck past when she went to grab something. I'm actually surprised she hasn't come back yet. Anyway, from what I heard in there, it seems you had quite an influence in Pheon's change of character."

"All I did was go back to help you. She did the rest."

"Maybe, but it was still you that gave her a push in the right direction. That's makes two lives you've helped change for the better. I'm starting to think you have a knack for this."

"Whatever. Anyway, we better get going before Mary gets back and gives you heck for disobeying her."

"You're right! Let's get out of here then!" With that, they both took off, practically sprinting across the room. They were mere steps away from the ladder when…

"Hold it you two!" Both of them halted on the spot, turning to face the voice that had called out to them. They instantly recognized the multi-colored feathered form of Chatot as he flew towards them. Landing infront of them, he cleared his throat before speaking.

"I'm glad I caught two. I've got a mission that I need you to do."

Aaron groaned at the thought of another mission. "But Chatot, we were planning to take the weekend off! Can't you get someone else to do it?"

"Well…I could. If this was just any other mission. But the client has asked that it be undertaken by you two specifically."

Silvia and Aaron both glanced at each other before turning their attention back to Chatot. "Us? But why us?" Silvia asked the colorful bird.

Chatot simply looked at Silvia, as if thinking of a way to answer her question. After a moment, he gestured to a figure standing on the other side of the room. "Why don't you ask him yourself? He's right over there."

The one Chatot was referring to was a male Nidoran staring at them from across the room. He seemed almost afraid being in the guild, nervously glancing over his shoulder every few seconds as if expecting something to jump out at him. His shaking body further showed how scared he was, as he slowly made his way towards them. Upon reaching them, his fear seemed to only increase as he stood before them.

"Um…h-h-hi." The Nidoran stuttered as he spoke, as if he was reluctant to talk to them. "I'm-I'm Seth. It's a p-pleasure to finally m-meet you two."

"You're the client for this mission?" Aaron asked the stuttering Nidoran.

"Y-yes. You see, I…" Seth took a long gasp of air, as if to calm his already loose nerves, before continuing. "I need your help. I've lost something near and dear to me. I can't tell you how much it would mean to me if you could get it back."

"That's what we at the guild are here for!" It was uncertain if Chatot was trying to reassure the young Nidoran or if he was simply boasting about the guild. "Now tell us, what is it you've lost?"

"Actually…it's…it's my sister, Bell. I-I told her it was a bad idea, but she still went anyway! I was supposed to protect her, but I failed utterly. She could be lost or hurt…or worse!" Tears began rolling down the side of his face at the mere thought of his sister in danger. Chatot stepped up to the crying Pokémon and tried to ease his worries.

"Easy there. You have nothing to worry about. We'll bring your sister back before you know it! Isn't that right you two?" He glanced up at Aaron and Silvia, who upon seeing this little guy's reaction over his lost sister, knew they couldn't turn him down. He had asked them personally after all, which meant he believed that they could bring her back.

"Of course! You can count on us!" The Nidoran seemed relieved by Aaron's words, as he stopped crying.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. After all, we're here to help." Silvia hoped her words would only further the little guys' faith in them. "Now tell us. Where was she headed when you lost track of her?"

"Mid-Midnight Forest. She said you could find the rarest of items there at this time. She said she wouldn't give up until she'd reached the 13th floor. I tried to follow after her, but I didn't even make it past the first floor. Please…please rescue my sister!"

"Midnight Forest…alright then." She glanced behind her at Aaron. "Let's hurry and grab our stuff. The sooner we finish this mission the better." Aaron just nodded in response, before they both raced out of the guild, leaving Chatot and Seth alone.

"I hope they find her."

"What did I say about not worrying? Those two haven't failed a mission yet, and they're not about to start now! Now, to find you somewhere to wait for them to come-"

"Actually…" Seth spoke up suddenly, cutting Chatot off mid-sentence. "…If you don't mind, I'd rather just wait at home."

Seth's sudden request puzzled Chatot. Normally, the clients would want to wait in the guild for the team to return. "I don't mind…but I am a little confused. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to just wait here for them to return?"

Seth shook his head. "I wouldn't feel comfortable waiting anywhere else. When they come back, tell my sister to come straight home. She knows the way."

"Al-alright then. I'll be sure to tell her."

"Thanks." With that, the little Nidoran left, leaving a bewildered Chatot behind him. As he exited the guild a minute later, he quickly turned to see if anyone was watching him. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he took off, almost stumbling down the steps in the process. He didn't even pause to breathe as he reached the bottom, quickly turning towards the main part of town. After a moment of running, he finally arrived at Pheon's now deserted store. Officer Magnezone had roped of the area so they could investigate, but had left not too long ago, leaving the area completely devoid of people. The Nidoran dashed behind the building, before finally taking a gasp of air.

Could Seth of looked behind him, he would of seen his shadow start to move on its own accord. It lengthened until it was at least three times his size, before taking on a distinct form. The mysterious shadow seemed to ripple like after throwing a rock into a pond, before something began to slowly rise up from within its murky depts. When it had completely materialized, the being spoke.

"_Well…" _Seth nearly leapt out of his skin as he spun around to face the living shadow. The same thing that had attacked Pheon had grown stronger over night. Now, nearly its entire body had returned, which consisted of a pair of clawed hands and an almost cloak like body which dangled a foot off the ground. The only thing still in shadow was the being's head, but even that had taken some shape, which included a single line of smog hovering behind him like a cloud straight from the sky. Seth could only cower back as a pair of bright blue eyes stared out at him from within the creature's void of an incomplete body.

"_I trust you did what I instructed."_

"Y…yes sir. They're on their way to Midnight Forest right now. Floor thirteen, just like you asked."

"_Good. With no one around to interfere, nothing will stand in my way of my victory!" _The shadow clenched its newly formed fist infront of his face, which would have been smiling if he possessed a mouth. As he did this, Seth's personality seemed to suddenly pull a 180, as he went from scared to bold in the blink of an eye.

"I've done exactly what you've asked me to do. Now give me back my sister!"

The shadow seemed to chuckle as Seth tried to act tough. "_Is this whom you're referring to?" _The billow of smoke behind him moved like a third arm, winding itself before its owner. Held tightly within its being, was a female Nidoran, almost the exact likeness of her brother except for her blue skin.

"S-S-Seth!" The Nidoran was clearly scared beyond all reason as she remained held in the confining grasp of her captor.

"Bell…" Courage seemed to well up from within Seth as he caught sight of his sister. "I did what you wanted! Now let her go!"

The living shadow only chuckled in response. "_Fine. I have no further use for her."_ With that, the billow of smoke wound up, before hurtling Bell though the air. Seth quickly moved to catch her, which resulted in both of them colliding against one another, causing them both to tumble back. Once they had stopped, Bell was practically holding onto her brother for dear life, tears running freely down her face.

"Oh Seth! I was so scared!"

"I'm here now Bell. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"_Actually, there is." _Seth stared daggers at the being who had taken his sister hostage, who was simply standing there with his right arm behind his back, acting like nothing had happened. _"You see…I certainly can't let you two go and tell everyone about me. So…" _Swinging his arm out from behind him, a pitch black orb, tinted with a crimson core, hurtled towards the two siblings. Before either of them could even scream, the orb had completely enveloped them, their unconscious bodies hitting the ground soon after. Almost immediately, purple tendrils of energy rose up from their unconscious bodies, drifting through the air before being absorbed by the shadowy being. As he felt the last of his strength returning, the remaining shadows of his body began to take on form. A blood red collar encompassed the beings neck, looking like a lower jaw filled with razor sharp teeth. The billow of smoke behind him turned a solid white as it transformed into a band of hair longer then the creature's entire body, as well as manage to cover up one of the phantom's solid blue eyes.

Now whole, he glanced up at the sky, where the sun was starting to dip behind the horizon. The phantom smiled with its newly formed mouth as it spoke for the first time in over a year, no longer merely echoing from within his own darkness.

"Soon, night will fall. Once that happens, they will have no hope." With that, the now complete phantom let loose a laugh of diabolical origins, as he called his name to the heavens, though still failing to reach the ears of anyone nearby.

"Darkrai is back!!!"

**End Chapter **


	9. Perpetual Midnight

_Sorry about the long wait, things have been really hectic as of late. With school, problems at home and my old nemesis Writer's Block as of late, it's a wonder I was finally able to finish this at all. Also, several people have mentioned how the Darkrai in the last chapter may have been a little out of character. I tried to base the Darkrai in this story off what I remember from PMD, so my depiction of him may not be as accurate as others. With that out of the way, on with the show! _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Midnight Forest wasn't a place for the faint of heart. Like its name suggests, the entire forest was forever bathed in a veil of perpetual night. The cause of this was the thick canopy of leaves hanging above the treetops, preventing all but a sliver of sunlight from entering. The silvery texture of the leaves also caused the illusion of moonlight to be constantly rained down upon the forest, giving it an eerily silver glow even in the middle of the day. If that weren't enough, many of the forest's inhabitants were creatures of the night themselves, consisting mostly of ghost and dark types. The whole place could be best described as a scene straight from the worst of nightmares, filled with everything that invoked fear in the hearts of all who entered…

…And that's just how Darkrai liked it. Revived by a mysterious benefactor, the fiendish phantom lay in wait atop the thirteenth floor, considered by superstitious folk to be an unlucky number. Some teams were so scared of this random fear that they even went as far as to never accept any missions either on or above the thirteenth floor of a dungeon. Lucky for him, Team Poison Claw wasn't one of them.

Lured here by the request of a concerned Nidoran, the Zangoose and Seviper team thought they were coming to rescue his scared little sister. After all, a helpless child trapped in a place that had once promised adventure and treasure but now only gave fear and misery, wishing to the heavens for someone to help? That was the stuff that Rescue Teams were made for! But, little did either of them know, all of it had been but a clever ruse cooked up by Darkrai himself.

It had been the perfect opportunity: a brother and sister on a nice stroll together, blissfully unaware of what lay lurking in the shadows behind them. The moment a chance had presented itself; Darkrai had swept in and kidnapped the younger of the two, holding her hostage. Her brother, Seth, had of course begged him to give her back, claiming that he would do anything in return. Concerned for his sister, Seth had been but a pawn in the phantom's grand scheme. Once Seth had done his job, his sister had been returned to him as promised. But their troubles had yet to be over, as Darkrai had one more surprise in store for them. If no one had found them yet then the two siblings were probably still lying unconscious behind Pheon's shop, both tormented by the nightmarish visions running through their heads.

As Darkrai lingered among the shadows of the forest, he thought about his benefactor's odd request. In exchange for reviving him and returning his power, albeit rather slowly, the mysterious figure had asked for him to carry out two specific requests. The first was to seek out a Blaziken in Treasure town, the same Blaziken that had once been one of the most feared names in the underground. It had originally been her mission to eliminate a certain serpent, as well as anyone who got in her way. If everything had gone as planned, then this would have lead to the ultimate demise of both Silvia Seviper and Aaron Zangoose. But everything had gone awry at the last minute, when the so called "Black Phoenix" had suddenly defected and gone straight for completely unknown reasons. Having failed her mission, Darkrai was to ensure that she would be punished for it.

Once he had accomplished that, the phantom of nightmares was then asked to do what the Blaziken had failed at: to seek out and kill both Aaron Zangoose and Silvia Seviper, "by any means necessary". Those four simple words had brought a smile to the previously disembodied spirit. Any means necessary…that just opened a wealth of options among what he could do, which was a lot. His reward for doing all this? All the mysterious figure had said was, "Anything you wish will be yours." When Darkrai had responded that his wish was to plunge the world into everlasting darkness, the being didn't seem shocked or even surprised. Moreover, he seemed rather glad.

"_Then you and I have a common goal." _Whoever this person was, he spoke with the tone and air of someone well voiced in the way of giving speeches."_For you see, we too would like nothing better for this world, this boring and bright world, to regain what it has since lost. Pure darkness, and you, oh Darkrai, shall rule over this world as your own!"_

"_But why these two?" _Darkrai had asked. _"What's so special about them?"_

"_What isn't? Albeit not a problem to us now, if left to run amuck any further, they could ruin what we have sought so long to uphold! That is why we have called you here. We believe that you have the power to rid us of those two for good! _After that, he had said nothing further on the matter.

"Something just doesn't sit right about all this." Usually, Darkrai was never one to over think a possible chance to inflict torment; though this time he'd decided to make an exception. The one who had revived him had promised anything his heart desired, but what did they get out of all this? Sure, this person had said they both shared a common goal but-

Darkrai was distracted from his thoughts as he detected a presence enter the area. Actually, two presences. He had dealt with any inhabitants on this floor the moment he'd come in, so that only meant one thing. His bright blue eyes shone ominously from within the shadows, similar in appearance to those of a demon waiting for prey to enter its lair.

"They're here."

* * *

Aaron and Silvia stood panting in front of the entrance to the 13th floor. They had practically torn through the place, ignoring any fallen items or money, as well as avoiding the inhabitants as best they could. To them, time was a luxury they didn't have. For a young Nidoran left alone in a place like this for too long could be dangerous, if not fatal. Since neither of them had bothered to pick up anything new, all they had with them was what they had collected on their previous missions, which had been so short that that too was limited.

To add to all this, it was only a few short minutes before sunset. Although night was forever present in this place, when the sun set for the rest of the world, the true horrors of the forest came out. If they were going to find Bell before then, they would have to hurry.

Aaron was the first to catch his breath. "Okay…floor number 13. Bell should be around here somewhere."

"It would help…if we knew exactly where. Time isn't on our side if we're going to find her before nightfall."

"Give me a minute. I'll find-" Aaron suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His eyes looked down at the badge he held in his hand, which for intensive purposes looked normal. But something was wrong. Very wrong.

Silvia noticed his odd silence and asked, "What is it? What's wrong?" Her question was answered when he showed her the badge still gripped in his paw. It didn't take long for her too to realize what the problem was.

Whoever had invented the Rescue Team badge, no one knew. Some figured they must have been a Lucario because, along with its many numerous functions, the small device also had the ability to detect foreign auras in the area when activated. This proved useful during missions, as it allowed a team to know when a certain Pokémon was on the floor, as well as an estimate of their possible locations. If it was a lost or scared Pokémon, then the badge would pick up on these emotions and respond by flashing yellow. If the Pokémon was a criminal, it would detect their negative or malicious energies and flash bright red to signal this.

But at this moment, the badge in Aaron's paw lay silent. On a rescue mission such as this, it should have been flashing yellow to signal someone in distress, as well as start beeping in time with their aura. But there was nothing. No flashing light, no beeping signal, nothing. In fact, it wasn't even detecting ANY foreign auras in the area. It was like the whole floor was just…dead.

"This…this can't be right. Seth said that Bell was headed towards the thirteenth floor when he last saw her. She wasn't on the previous floors and if she made it this far, she would have headed back. So, why isn't-

Before Silvia could finish that sentence, something rocketed out from within the forest. Whoever had fired it seemed to be trying to get their eye in though, as it whizzed past Aaron's head, missing by a large margin. That got their attention, as they glanced up in time to see two more projectiles hurtling towards them. This time though, they were ready for them. Aaron ducked as the blast shot over his head and Silvia swerved to avoid the second one as it glanced by.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Aaron's cry fell on deaf ears, as more blasts of dark energy broke through the dense forest, each blast getting closer and closer to its intended targets. Whoever was on the other end of this barrage was starting to perfect his aim.

Not content with remaining as sitting ducks, the two of them took off into the forest, dodging more and more attacks with each step. At the same time, Silvia furiously dug through the pack on her back, searching for anything that could help them. While both Zangoose and Seviper were well equipped for fighting in close combat after generations of fighting one another, the two species were not known to fight well at a distance. As such, something was usually kept in reserve for such an occasion that neither Aaron nor Silvia was able to close in on their target. But again, because of the lack of time present during their previous missions and because they had left town in a haste, such an item was missing. It seemed that their luck from this morning was beginning to backfire on them.

While the two members of Team Poison Claw made a mad dash through the forest, Darkrai was not far behind, hidden well among the shadows that made up the very fabric of his being. The Pitch-Black Pokemon laughed as he launched another Dark Pulse at his fleeing prey. "That's it, run. Run like Rattata caught in a maze. Only in my maze, there is no prize at the end."

After another minute of racing past trees, a volley of dark blasts hot on their tails, the two teammates broke through the thick brush into a small clearing, or chamber as they were called by exploration teams. Upon entry of the chamber, the onslaught of attacks suddenly stopped. Skidding to a halt, Aaron peered into the darkness while at the same time readying his claws for a confrontation. Silvia did the same thing with her bladed tail as both of them expected something to suddenly leap out and attack. But the only sound that proved to reach them was sounds of their own hearts beating against their chests.

"You think we lost him?"

"_Afraid not, my white furred friend!" _The eerily calm of Midnight forest was shattered as a voice echoed through the trees, startling both Aaron and Silvia. This voice, whoever it belonged to, appeared to come from nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time.

"_So…you're Team PoisonClaw. I was expecting more from everything I heard about you two. After all, a team formed from possibly the only Zangoose and Seviper to ever get along? Pretty pathetic if you ask me." _

Whoever this voice belonged to, he was obviously taunting them. Aaron focused into the darkness, but nothing stood out other then the trees surrounding them. If either of them were going to stand a fighting chance against whoever this was then they would have to bring him out into the open. And if the last few months had taught him anything, it was that most criminals had egos larger than their list of crimes.

"Big words from someone who has to cower in the shadows." Aaron taunted back at the mysterious foe. "If you're so sure of how weak we are, then why don't you come out and fight us yourself?"

The voice laughed at Aaron's offer._ "Gladly. I'm right behind you."_

At those words, both Aaron and Silvia spun around almost fast enough to induce whiplash. But instead of coming face to face with any kind of enemy, all they saw was empty space. At least until something unusual caught their eye. A lone shadow spotted the landscape just a few feet infront of them, normal in every meaning of the word except for the fact…that there was nothing around to make such a shadow.

The sound of a lone drop striking a pool of water echoed outward from within the shadow's murky depths. Ripples began to form and stretch outward across its surface, before something could be seen rising up from what could best be described as oblivion itself. The first thing to appear was a long billow of hair, whiter then snow itself and twisting like a snake, despite the lack of any strong winds in the area. As the figure rose up higher, a single bright blue eye stared out at them, the other eye obscured by a bang of the ghostly white hair. Even then, it seemed to Silvia like it was peering into her very soul. As the rest of a body began to take shape, a blood red collar, shaped to look like a lower jaw filled with sharp teeth, materialized around the creature's neck. Hands ending in sharp claws materialized at the phantom's side, as what could be best described as the ripped remains of a cloak slipped out from the shadow, hovering just a foot off the ground as they too swayed in some imaginary breeze.

Darkrai hovered there for a moment, smiling as he saw the look of fear pass across his prey's faces. He loved to make an entrance, especially when it resulted in his victims standing there in shock like the grim reaper had just appeared before them. Considering who he was, they weren't too far off.

"Surprised? Many are, especially when my face is the last thing they usually see."

"What…what are you?"

Darkrai chuckled as he detected the hint of fear in Silvia's voice. "I figured I needed no introduction. For you see, I am none other than the shadow of fear, the prince of darkness, the phantom of nightmares himself! I am…Darkrai!"

"Darkrai!?!" Any fear Aaron voice was quickly replaced by utter disbelief. Despite the fact that him and Silvia had arrived in Treasure Town several months after the nightmare fiend's supposed demise, even they had heard the story of the phantom of nightmares. Darkrai was a rogue, an exile from the legendary council of the heavens. He had plotted to plunge the world into darkness, and would have succeeded if not for the valiant efforts of Team EmberLeaf, a rescue team that had since made history across the land.

"It…it can't be! You're supposed to be dead!" Darkrai's only response to the Zangoose's words was an evil smirk from beneath his collar.

"As you can see, rumors of my untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated. For, if I were dead, could I have convinced that pathetic Nidoran to lure you two here?"

Darkrai's words hit them harder then stone. They had been lured here…by Seth? His true reason for asking for them personally hadn't been because he'd believed in them, but because he had been ordered to!?

Darkrai sensed their shock and almost seemed to read their minds. "Yes, all of it was nothing but a trick! For you see, his poor sister didn't get lost while venturing into this forest. No, she was kidnapped by yours truly! Once you had fallen for his ruse, I gave her back as promised. After that… I did the same thing to them as I did to that pathetic Blaziken."

_Pathetic Blaziken…! _"It was you! You're the one who attacked Pheon!"

The ex-legendary laughed at Silvia's accusation. "Guilty as charged! To think, she was once one of the best assassins to ever grace the underground. Why someone like her would ever give up such a life style is beyond even me." As Darkrai spoke, he slipped his right hand behind his back, as a familiar ball of darkness with a core of crimson began to form in the palm of his hand.

"Ah…but I've said too much as it is." The Dark Void behind his back had quickly reached full power; now a ball of darkness larger than the palm of the one who held it. His grip tightened as the ex-legendary of nightmares whipped the orb of darkness from behind his back. Aaron and Silvia's first instincts were to dodge it, but neither of them were expecting what happened next.

Instead of hurling the attack at them like he had done before, Darkrai tossed the attack high up into the air. Breaking through the thick canopy of the forest, the orb of pure darkness hovered a foot above the treetops, yet cast no shadow. Darkrai's lone eye peered out at the two as he raised his right claw next to his face in a single motion.

"Dark Void_."_

'_Snap!' _With one snap of his fingers, the Dark Void above exploded in a violent burst of dark energy. A hail of smaller projectiles rained down onto the forest beneath. Aaron and Silvia immediately tried their best to avoid them, but it was like trying to stay dry in the rain. Among this barrage, Darkrai never even moved, yet is seemed like the smaller remnants of his attack seemed to avoid him like the plague. They were made from his dark energy after all.

Avoiding the onslaught of attacks, Silvia made a direct bee-line for Darkrai, who just floated there, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the onslaught rain down like the worst of hailstorms. The bladed end of Silvia's tail took on a shade of dark purple in the pale moonlight of the forest, venom dripping from its smooth surface. She was intent on making sure he paid for what he had done to Pheon!

With the fires of rage burning in her eyes, Silvia swung at the ex-legendary. Catching the image of the incoming blade out of the corner of his eye, Darkrai moved with almost unnatural speed. As the blade passed by him Darkrai arched his wrist in the direction of his attacker. Like a puppeteer pulling the strings of his puppets six or seven Dark Void fragments veered from their original course, drawn to a new target by their master's command.

Silvia cried out the attack made contact, but her voice was quickly silenced as the darkness overtook her. The force of multiple projectiles striking all at once caused her to tumble back a good few feet, stopping only as her body crumbled to the ground. If not for her steady breathing, one could mistake the stillness of her body for the cold grasp of death. Looking down at his victim, Darkrai's visible blue eye seemed to almost glow with delight.

"One down, one to go."

Hearing her cry out, Aaron looked over in time to see Silvia's unconscious body hit the ground. "Silvia!" Enraged by the sight of Darkrai hovering over Silvia's now motionless body, Aaron made a mad dash towards the phantom of nightmares. The Dark Voids seemed to be moving in slow motion as the Zangoose zigzagged around them, quickly closing the distance between him and the ex-legendary.

"Darkrai!" The phantom in question turned around at the sound of his name, narrowly avoiding Aaron's claws from raking across his face. His visible eye widened in shock for a second before quickly recomposing himself. With another flick of his wrist, the invisible strings were pulled and even more of the raining projectiles were drawn towards a new target. But this barrage would find Aaron a harder target to hit, as the moment they came close enough, the Zangoose propelled himself forward with a swift kick. Multiple Dark Voids struck the ground where Aaron had been moments before, leaving Darkrai near defenseless. Before he could call another wave, Aaron was upon him. A flash of moonlight glinted off Aaron's claws for the briefest of moments, before those same claws plunged deep into Darkrai's flesh, right were his dark heart should have of been.

Time slowed to a standstill, yet the feeling of something wrong passed over the Zangoose with the force of a flood. Instead of the feeling of flesh and blood, Aaron felt like he had just stabbed open air. Then, Darkrai…popped. He didn't explode; just popped. Like the way a balloon does in the face of a sharp pin, complete with shadowy pieces drifting lazily to the ground.

"Wha-?"

"Looking for me?"

Aaron froze at the sound of the voice behind him. Catching a glance over his shoulder, he came face to face with a Dark Void pointed directly at him. How had he gotten behind him?

"Goodbye." That was the last thing Aaron heard before he felt a sharp pain on his back, before he too became swallowed up by darkness. He was out before his body even hit the ground. But his last attack had not left Darkrai unscathed. A small flow of blood dripped from a wound on his side. While he had been quick enough to throw a shadow duplicate of himself out, the Zangoose's claws had still managed a minor blow. It wasn't a fatal wound, nor was it anything to really concern himself with. No, he had more important things to deal with at moment.

As Darkrai hovered over to his two latest victims, he saw that his powers had already begun to take effect. Darkrai could give nightmares simply by being in the area, but they weren't exactly a gut-wrenching horror fest. For that, he would need something…special. The phantom of nightmares cracked his knuckles as he prepared to do his worst. After all, his mysterious client had said "By any means necessary."

Raising his arms out infront of him, his entire body suddenly became surrounded by an ominous black aura. The only thing piercing through the darkness was Darkrai's uncovered blue eye, which shone brighter than a lone star on a clear night. Like a fog, the darkness began to drift from his body, rolling over the unconscious bodies of Aaron and Silvia. If one had been able to see through the thick miasma, then they would have seen the looks of fear disappear from his victim's faces only to be immediately replaced by intense look of agony and terror. This was Darkrai's true power. This…was Nightmare.

As the fog dissipated, Darkrai could already feel the waves of fear emanating from their unconscious bodies intensify greatly. To him, these waves took on the form of purple tendrils drifting up into the sky. Like metal to a magnet, these energies were quickly redirected towards the Pokémon of nightmares, filling him with strength as he used an ability known as Dream Eater. Actually, the name of this move was rather misleading. The user didn't eat his victim's dreams, merely feasted on the energies produced by said dreams. These energies could then be used to heal, as the small wound on the phantom's side was already beginning disappear. Most Pokémon who could use this attack feasted on good dreams, with bad dreams making them sick. But for Darkrai, his preferred tastes were the opposite. He lived off nightmares and whenever he had the chance to feast on good dreams (which wasn't very often considering his ability); it would usually end with Darkrai being sick to his stomach for several days.

While the nightmare legendary continued to absorb his fill of nightmare energies, he smiled from behind his blood red collar. "Ahhh…I love this job."

* * *

"Ugghhh…I HATE this job!" Decibel was ready to bash his head against the wall in boredom. After losing the money from his recent missions in a game of poker, the Loudred had quickly been thrown into the doghouse in Sunni's eyes. Instead of beating him within an inch of his life like she usually did though, the cheery sunflower had offered him a choice. Either forfeit all shares of rewards for the next week to her, or take over her most recent chore responsibility for the week. At the moment, he had seen the latter as an easy way out with pay. I mean, how bad could it be?

It wasn't until it was too late that he actually discovered what the job was: caring for the plants and flowers situated around the guild. Sounds simply right? Wrong. At last count, there were at least thirty different flower beds in and around the guild, the recent aftermath of Wigglytuff's attempt to "cheer the place up a teensy bit!", as he put it. Not to mention that the job required constant watering and weeding at least 3-4 times a day. It was both time consuming and, for someone life Decibel, mind-numbingly boring. How he was going to survive a week of this was anyone's guess.

At the moment, he was just watering the last flower on the inside of the guild, which meant he would soon be moving on to the ones on the outside. Other then the steady dripping of water, the only other sound was coming from the trade shop owner himself who was currently polishing his cauldron like one would polish jewelry. Every so often he would utter a strange sound which could be best described as a cross between a hiss and a stutter.

Decibel looked up from his watering can at the Trade shop owner in question. "You COULD at least HELP me Hector!"

The Croakgunk didn't even move his eyes from his polishing. "Sshh, sshh. It's not my fault you pissed off Sunni. Also not my fault you chose the obvious "too good to be true" option. Besides, what do you think Sunni would do to ME if she found out I'd helped you weasel out of this? Ssshhh, ssshhh."

"Well-"

"Exactly. Ssshhh,ssshhh." Hector didn't say anything further as he continued sprucing up his cauldron. As Decibel grumbled to himself some more, Mary stepped out from behind him, carrying a tray with both food and a small cup of painkillers on top. As the nurse Pokémon preceded down the hall, the grumpy Loudred was getting up to do the outside flowers when…

"_CRASH!" _

The sound of metal clanging against stone echoed through the guild like a gunshot. Almost on pure instinct, Decibel tossed the Wailmer shaped watering can behind him, spilling its contents on the guild floor as he took off towards the source of the sound. Hector didn't even budge from his spot, nor did he pause for a moment from his polishing.

"Mary!" Decibel called out to her as he raced into the room. The Chansey in question was frozen in place just a few feet in front of the doorway. The metal tray she had been carrying lay at her feet, its contents of food and painkillers lying scattered around her. As Decibel ran up to her, he saw the look of shock played across her face.

"Mary, what's wrong?" Mary didn't respond, her eyes remaining wide in disbelief. Decibel glanced over his shoulder at what she was staring at. Immediately, he realized what had caused her to act like this.

The cot in the center of the room lie empty, sheets thrown off in haste. A slight breeze blew in from the open window on the side wall, an opening just big enough for a Blaziken to squeeze though and drop to the ground below. It didn't take an Alakazam to figure out what had just occurred.

Pheon, despite being heavily injured and in need of medical care, had disappeared.

**End Chapter**


	10. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

"But I saw it!"

"Yeah right!"

"You've got to believe me!"

It wasn't long since night had fallen, yet a small pack of kids had gathered at the entrance to Midnight Forest. Two of them consisted of a Cubone and Zubat named Pelv and Shade respectively, while the third member and "self-proclaimed leader" of their little group was a recently evolved Staravia named Ace. His one defining feature was a stray gold feather perched atop his head, which he claimed to have once belonged to the legendary bird Ho-oh. But both Shade and Pelv knew that the Staravia they called their friend had a very annoying habit of making up exceedingly tall tales.

"Let me get this straight…" Pelv questioned the now erratic bird "…You were here, minding your own business, when a Zangoose and Seviper suddenly ran right past you. You looked up in time to see, not them fighting like they should have been, but instead for them to practically run hand-in-hand into the forest?"

"Yes!"

"Were they perhaps being followed by a flying Grumpig and a golden Gyarados?" The skull atop Pelv's head rattled as he laughed at his own joke.

"It's not funny! I'm telling the truth! Shade, help me out here!"

"I'm sorry Ace, but even I have to wonder if you're pulling our legs. Like that time you said an Absol told you the end of the world was coming in a hail of fiery rain."

"Or the time you claimed to have found a secret doorway to the underworld." Pelv added.

"Or the time-"

"But those were real too! I swear!"

As the three of them continued to bicker, a lone figure listened closely from the shadows. While the person in question hadn't been there long, the mention of a Zangoose and Seviper running into the forest immediately took their complete attention.

A Zangoose and Seviper…only two came to mind: Aaron and Silvia, also known as Team PoisonClaw.

_What are they doing here?! If I'm right and "_he" _is here then…they could be in danger!_

So, without alerting the three still standing near the entrance, the unknown individual abandoned their previous hiding spot and took off into the forest. Though with the way they moved, you would never have known they were even there unless they snuck up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder. Not even the wind proved to reveal their presence as the forest blew past them like a blur.

* * *

Darkrai felt a sense of twisted accomplishment as he looked down at his latest victims. The air around him had become thick with the smell of nightmares, a smell only a few individuals could detect. The heavy scent of fear, pain, mixed in with a feeling of hopelessness was beyond intoxicating and any regular individual would have probably ended up lightheaded and slightly drunk off the smell. But centuries of living in this very scent had given Darkrai immunity to its intoxicating effects. Though, that didn't stop him from relishing in the scent of another job well done.

With that being said, all the phantom had to do now was sit back and watch the show unfold. A nearby tree proved to make a reasonable back rest, and that same tree applied plenty of Oran berries to snack on. While he had already absorbed all the nightmare energies he could take at the moment, there was nothing like having real food in his gut, especially since his last true meal had been well over a year ago.

Plucking a berry from above him, Darkrai was just about to take a bite when the smell of the nightmares emanating from his two targets suddenly spiked. This occurrence brought a smile to the ex-legendary's face.

"Now, things will get interesting." Darkrai chuckled as he bit into the Oran berry still gripped in his clawed hand.

* * *

_Blood._

_That was the first thing Silvia became aware of as her senses began to slowly return to her. The heavy scent of the crimson liquid seemed to come from everywhere, almost as if she was surrounded on all sides by death and torment. The scent was downright putrid, making her feel sick to the very pit of her stomach. Against all better judgment, Silvia forced her eyes to open._

_It was a decision that she instantly regretted. Dozens of bodies littered the ground around her, many mutilated beyond all recognition. The green grass one would expect to find was instead stained red with the life of numerous victims, their blood soaking into the soil and turning even the earth an unsettling crimson. _

_Their blood…she was covered in their blood. Her black scaled body was dripping in countless pints of the stuff; with most of her lower half no longer black but instead a dark red. The bladed end of her tail glistened in what little sunlight there was, where the freshest marks of a kill stained its surface. As the horror and confusion set in upon finding herself in his state, something suddenly became clear to her._

_The bodies…they were all Zangoose. Even soaked with their own blood, there was no mistaking the pure white fur or the purple claws of the Zangoose species. All of them…every last one had been brutally hacked apart by a sharpened blade. Her blade. _

_No…it wasn't true! She couldn't have done all of this! She just couldn't have-_

"_Well, well. Look what we got here!"_

_Silvia jerked her head towards the sudden voice. A Zangoose was watching her from up in tree, standing perched on a random branch as he surveyed the scene before him. But it wasn't the sight of this Zangoose that made her blood run cold, but the instantly recognizable scar etched across his face._

_A scar in the shape of two jagged claw marks._

_From atop his lookout point, the unmistakable form of Zack Zangoose, Aaron's deranged older brother, looked on over the scene of bloodshed. Zack whistled in amazement at what he was seeing. "Would you look at this…seems we got us a murderous Seviper on our hands. Eh' brother?"_

_B-Brother? It couldn't be..._

_Any hopes Silvia had of her suspicions being wrong were instantly crushed the moment a second Zangoose stepped out from behind the trees. A Zangoose Silvia knew all too well._

"_Aaron…" _

_Indeed, it was Aaron, but not the one Silvia recognized. Gone was his kind face, instead replaced by a look of scorn and anger. Gone were his bright yellow eyes that she had fallen in love with, now a pair of eyes that showed nothing but hatred for the one reflected in their glassy surface. _

_Zack's ears perked up as Silvia spoke. "Hey bro! This Seviper just called you by name! You know her or something?"_

_Then, Aaron spoke in a voice that wasn't his own. The words he spoke chilled Silvia down to her very soul._

"_Never seen her before in my life."_

_Silvia wanted to yell out, "Aaron, it's me! Silvia!", but whether by shock or fear alone, her voice had abandoned her. Meanwhile, the two brother continued to converse between them. _

"_What should we do with her brother?"_

_This Aaron seemed to think for a second, before answering, "We do the same thing we do to every other Seviper we come across: Kill it." _

_At that, Zack smiled his ever twisted smile. "Good idea bro! Say, you don't mind if I get to decapitate this one, do you?" Zack fully extended his claws as he waited for his brother's response_

_Aaron mimicked Zack's twisted smile as he extended his own claws and smugly replied, "As long as I get to skin the beast alive first."_

_Zack laughed as he leapt down next to his brother. "But of course! Now what kind of older brother would I be if I didn't let my little bro have the first go, hmm?" At that, the two brothers shared a laugh between them, before starting their advance towards Silvia. Every muscle in her body screamed for her to run, but she didn't move. It was like some invisible chains had bound her tightly to the ground, preventing her from doing anything except watch as the claws of death got closer and closer with each step. _

_The two brothers didn't seem to notice, nor did they care about their fallen comrades, stepping over and even kicking them out of their path. By the time they stood before her, the soles of their feet had become painted red with the blood of their murdered species. With a fiendish glint in their eyes, the two equally deranged looking brothers brought their claws up above their heads, before violently driving them down towards the helpless serpent. _

_Silvia would have screamed, if she could have._

* * *

"_Hey! Anyone there?" _

_Aaron was no better off. Upon opening his eyes, the Zangoose had found himself in a seemingly endless void, surrounded on all sided by pure emptiness as far as the eyes could see. The only solid footing was the ground he now stood on, and even that looked like it had been formed from nothingness itself, stretching onward for infinity. Not content with running down this endless pathway, Aaron was trying to see if he really was alone here._

"_Hello?! Is anyone else there? If you can hear me, give a sign or something!"_

"_Aaron…"_

_Aaron turned towards the direction the voice had come from, a voice that seemed to know his name. "Who's there? Show yourself!"_

"_Aaron…" Again, the voice repeated his name, but this time it was clear enough to determine that the owner of the voice was female._

"_Silvia? Is that you? Where are you?!"_

"_Aaron…we missed you." Suddenly, a blinding light pierced through the veil of oblivion. The light was intense, almost like looking into the sun, forcing Aaron to shield his eyes lest he go blind. As the light began to dim down, Aaron could just barely make out two figures stepping out from within the light. The light continued to diminish at an increased rate, revealing more features about these sudden guests. For one, both were Zangoose, one was female and the one standing next to her was male, possibly her mate. As the rest of the light vanished back into the void, Aaron gasped as he caught sight of their faces. _

_More specifically, the diagonal scar where the male's right eye should have been._

_The male Zangoose smiled as he saw Aaron's shock at his appearance. He then spoke in a voice that was both stern, but still showed his love for the one he was speaking to._

"_Aaron…my son."_

"_M-mom? D-dad?" It was like something out a dream. After him and Silvia had escaped from their past lives, he had thought he would never see his family again and now here they were! It was almost too good to be true. "Is…is it really you?"_

_His father's tone of voice didn't change. "Of course it is son. We've been worried sick ever since you disappeared. But now that we've finally found you, everything can return to the way it used to be."_

"_We missed you so much. Won't you return home with us?"_

_Aaron was shocked by his mother's words. Return home, where him and the rest of his kind hunted Seviper like pest, who intern hunted them all the same? Aaron had promised never to return to that life, especially if it meant he would be ultimately leaving the many friends he had made behind in the process. Everyone at the guild, and Silvia… Even if it meant he would never see his family again, his mind had already been made up long ago. He was going to have to refuse their offer. _

_Unfortunately, Aaron would never get the chance to._

_For from the deepest recesses of oblivion, what could only be described as a demon materialized on the platform behind the two Zangoose. This being possessed no true physical form but instead seemed to be composed completely of constantly shifting dark energy. The only thing to pierce this darkness was a pair of bright red eyes, eyes that burned brighter and fiercer then the flames of hell themselves. Instead of arms, this creature instead wielded a deadly curved blade at each side, blades that he intended to use. _

_Aaron's eyes widened at the sight of this demon. He tried to yell out," Behind you!", but nothing came out, almost like this demon had stolen his voice, preventing him from stopping what was about to occur. _

_Before either of them knew what hit them, the entity struck, causing the once happy faces of his parents to contort into distorted images of pain and horror. Their attacker would have smiled a wicked grin as he swiftly yanked his hands from his victim's backs, allowing their dead bodies to topple forward onto the ground they once stood on. All colour seemed to drain from their bodies, as flesh became the consistency of sand and the now motionless forms of Aaron's parents dissolved into nothing more than piles of ash. To add further insult to injury, the dark form dragged his foot through these ash piles, casting their remains into the void below. _

_Aaron was horrified. He had just watched his parents murdered right before his eyes, and had been completely unable to stop it! He had remained rooted to the spot the whole time, like his body was being weighed down by chains buried deep into the ground._

_The faceless entity laughed as the remaining ashes of his victims were cast into oblivion. It spoke with a voice that sounded like the columniation of multiple people speaking, all in total unison with one another."Now that those two are no more, it's your turn to join them." The demon began to advance towards his next victim, but suddenly stopped after only a few steps._

"_No…I have a better idea in mind." Tapping his foot against the ground, a wave of energy suddenly swept over the void, changing the surroundings in its wake. What had once been a never-ending pathway had now become a grassy field, much like the one back home. Actually, it was the one from back home, as the entire area had become an exact duplicate of eh very place where he and Silvia had fought while under the dreaded influence of The Marking. As the surroundings changed, so too did the one who had conjured it._

_In the same way a Ditto changes its form, any unique features this creature may have had disappeared as its body morphed into something new. The lower half of its body changed first, as its legs vanished ad its lower half became a single tail like form. The beings arms followed suit, as the upper torso only became more tail like in shape, just as fangs grew outward of the creature's moth as its face contorted into a new form. To finish the transformation, a large blade tipped the end of the demon's body._

_In a matter of seconds, the demon had transformed itself into a Seviper. But it wasn't just any Seviper, but the spitting image of someone Aaron knew all too well, someone Aaron hoped he would never have to fight against ever again._

"_Silvia…" _

_Not taking the time to gauge his reaction at his new form, the beast lunged at the shocked Zangoose, coiling its now serpent body tightly around his arms and legs, preventing him from moving even if he hadn't still been chained down by whatever forces refused to let him even put up a fight. The last length of scales looped its way around his neck, tugging forcibly back as the black scales pressed against Aaron's windpipe, diminishing his ability to even draw breath. _

_As his lungs began to lose oxygen at an increased rate, adrenaline kicked in, allowing Aaron to somehow free his arms, which he quickly used to try and tug the demons tail from around his neck. But no matter how hard he pulled, the makeshift noose remained unmoved._

"_Tell me…" The demon whispered in Aaron's ear as he struggled against his binds, "How does it feel to have the life squeezed of you by the very person you trusted the most? Tell me before you die!"_

_Aaron struggled to breathe as the demon tightened its grip on his throat. His claws gripped tightly against his restraints, but nothing seemed to loosen the beast's grip. Already, he could feel his body losing strength, as his vision began to swim in and out of focus as the coils binding his body only increased in strength._

* * *

It was said that if one were to die in a dream, then they too would die in reality. Darkrai knew all too well the truth behind this legend, as many a death had been caused by his very nightmares. The nightmares he had cast on Aaron and Silvia were much the same in power, capable of inflicting bodily harm as his victims literally died of fear. Aaron's body struggled in his restless sleep, claws gripping for the imaginary noose encircling his neck. Darkrai laughed as he watched the Zangoose struggle and thrash like a fish out of water, gasping for each breath as his fear driven mind tricked his body into thinking it was being strangled, ultimately achieving the same effect.

"Not long now. Once he's gone, I'll take care of the other one just as-"

Darkrai never got the chance to finish that sentence. Before he could, a jet of flames struck him hard on his left side, knocking the ex-legendary out of mid-air before colliding hard with the ground. The flames had come from out of nowhere, blindsiding the phantom before he could react. Along with the slight scorch mark on the left side of his body, the impact his head received from the blow to the ground proved strong enough to weaken his concentration, which in turn caused him to lose focus on his nightmares long enough to cause the very fabric of his illusions to distort, if only for a moment.

* * *

_As the claws came down on her, the chains binding her body suddenly snapped. Gifted with movement once again, Silvia lashed out with her blood soaked tail, succeeding in knocking away the pair of claws intent of taking her life from her. No longer immobile, Silvia turned and slithered away from there as fast as she could. She didn't care that she had no idea where she was going, or that her blood soaked body was leaving a trail that any Zangoose worth his claws could follow directly to her. No, Silvia didn't care about that. All she cared about was getting as far away as she possibly could._

_Silvia didn't know how long she ran before the trail abruptly ended before her. Her scales screeched against the ground as she came to a sudden stop, the once vast clearing now an unstable Cliffside, looking over a seemingly endless drop towards the waters below. Before Silvia could turn around and find another path, she heard that ever twisted voice from behind her._

"_Nowhere to run now, you worthless serpent!"_

_Even after running all this way, nothing had change. The only difference between her previous dilemma and now was that her body had been frozen to the spot before. While she could move now, she had nowhere to go just as Zack had said. Except either into the waters below or straight into the claws of two Zangoose thirsting heavily for her blood, those same claws that drew closer and closer as more time passed..._

* * *

_Aaron's grip on the coils crushing his body began to weaken. All his will power was bent on preventing him from passing out and even that was failing him. His lungs desperately begged for air, as Aaron drew what would have been his last breath…_

…_if not for what happened next. Without warning, the coils wrapped tightly around his body shifted, becoming almost ghost in nature. With no physical substance to grip with, Aaron just passed through them like they weren't even there._

_As his body hit the ground, he gasped for breath, his lungs finally supplied with the air they had been begging for. His whole body ached, but a little pain was better than being dead. Making it back onto his feet, the distortion ended as quickly as it had begun. The Seviper whose coils had been once wrapped around his neck was surprised to find their victim gone had vanished from their hold, only to be back on his feet after a momentary recovery._

_The demon wearing Silvia's face growled in frustration. "I don't know how you escaped, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen again!" Bladed tail ready to strike, the beast lunged for its prey… _

* * *

From within the shadows, a lone figure stepped into view. This was the same individual previously hidden near the entrance to Midnight Forest, as well as the one capable of blindsiding Darkrai so effectively. Whoever they were, they were far from your average person.

Sharp eyes scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary, stifling a gasp at the sight of Aaron and Silvia's motionless bodies. Dashing towards them, the figure knelt down next their bodies and checked for a pulse, breathing a silent sigh of relief upon finding that they were both still alive. At that moment, the thick canopy hanging above took that time part, allowing a streak of moonlight to enter, revealing the identity of the previously unknown assailant for all to see.

Bandages marked several wounds on their body, but even those couldn't hide the unmistakable face of the Blaziken known as Pheon. Even injured, Pheon had put her previous skills as an assassin to good use when she had escaped from the guild, following the putrid trail of her attacker towards this very place. But her plans for revenge were put on hold when she had learned that her friend's lives could have been in danger.

_They're alive, that's a good sign. But that attack won't keep that shady phantom down for long, so I'll have to get these two out of here before then. _

With precious little time to spare, Pheon grabbed Aaron's body and slung him over her shoulder, doing the same thing with Silvia for her other shoulder. In the process, the Rescue Team pack Silvia always carried on her back slid off, landing open on the forest floor while scattering a few of its small inventory of items. With no time to retrieve the satchel of items, Pheon simply left it behind as she raced off into the forest, back the way she had come from.

Meanwhile, just as Pheon had predicted, Darkrai had recovered from her assault and was back on his feet, so to speak. He was however ticked with the fact that he now had a huge bruise on the back of his head from when his skull had made contact with the ground, giving him a throbbing headache along with it.

"Ugh…when I catch the fool dumb enough to attack me, I'm going to make them wish I would have just killed them!" Blood boiling, Darkrai rushed back into the clearing, twin Dark Voids prepared in each hand for his attacker. But his eyes widened in horror upon finding the area devoid of any form of life save for the trees fencing the entire forest. This ultimately caused his anger to reach its inevitable boiling point.

"Arrgg…first they attack me, then they make off with my prey?! Damn it! ARRRRRGGGG!!"

The entire forest shook in fear from a scream ripped from the throat of terror itself. In his anger, Darkrai lashed out at the surrounding foliage; toppling a dozen of the thick trunks in one felled burst of dark energy. Pheon had barely left the general area before the sound of Darkrai's anger reached her sensitive ears.

"Drat, he's up already?! I figured he'd of stay down for at least a few minutes after a blow like that!"

Things weren't looking good. While Pheon could have usual outrun even the faster of foes on her own, the injuries from her previous fight with the ex-legendary were already causing her to become quickly fatigued, not to mention that she was also carrying two live bodies on her shoulders, severely hindering her speed. If she didn't do something fast, Darkrai was going to catch up to her for sure.

Quickly, Pheon brought up the image of Midnight Forest in her mind's eye. Years of learning everything she could about a potential targets location had instilled in Pheon the ability to generate a mental map just by quickly looking over an area at least once, even if it was only a secondary glance caught while racing through. In her previous line of work, knowing ones general surroundings could have meant the difference between life and death, for both herself and for those caught in her sights.

Coming to a certain part of the forest, Pheon skidded to an abrupt halt. She panted heavily from fatigue, her legs screaming desperately for rest, but now wasn't the time to take a break. Muttering "Man, I'm out of shape," under her breath, Pheon lifted the two unconscious souls off her shoulders, resting their sleeping forms against a nearby tree.

From the way they stirred, Pheon knew that they were both still trapped in Darkrai's nightmare, a nightmare one could not simply break by splashing cold water onto someone's face or by smacking them hard enough. No, this nightmare could only be broken by sheer force of will, by use of the pure dream energies of a mystical and rare item known as a Lunar Wing, or by the defeat of Darkrai himself. And since there were no Lunar Wings around to be found, Pheon decided it was time to try out the third option, or at least buy enough time so Aaron and Silvia could free themselves from this foul enchantment.

With her mental map to go on, Pheon knew that the only way to reach here was by way of a long stretch of corridor, surrounded on both sides by the thick foliage of the forest. Even in his rage, Darkrai would be drawn to the nightmare energies of his intended prey like a Venomoth to a flame. But to get to them, he'd have to get through her first, something she wasn't about to let happen.

As if on cue, the phantom of nightmares himself came into view. Darkrai's anger momentarily subsided upon catching sight of the Blaziken standing in his way, the very same Blaziken he had left for dead the night before.

"You!"

"What's the matter, shocked to see me still alive?"

Darkrai laughed. "I'd expect nothing less from the once most infamous assassin in the world. But I am curious as to how you were able to follow me here."

"Wasn't hard. I could smell your foul stench all the way from Treasure Town."

"Ooh, tough talk from someone I left drowning in their own fear. Now unless you'd like a repeat of that terror, I suggest you move out of my way and let me finish my job."

"Hmm…tempting offer, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on that. Besides…" Pheon's demeanor suddenly changed as her body shifted into a battle ready stance. "I have a bone to pick with you. Beating me was one thing, but destroying my shop is something I won't take lightly from anyone. Especially when they attack my friends."

"As much as I'd love to defeat you a second time, I just don't have the time to deal with the likes of you. So…" Following a familiar track record, the ex-legendary of nightmares launched a Dark Void at this latest annoyance. Once she was unconscious, Darkrai would first finish what he had been sent here to do, before taking his time in making this Blaziken suffer. Oh, he could taste her fear already!

Unfortunately for him, Pheon wasn't one to fall for the same trick twice. Faster than one could blink, she ignited the flames on her right wrist. But that wasn't the end of it, as those same flames suddenly arced up her arm, soon engulfing her entire arm in a raging inferno up to her shoulder. With that same reaction time, Pheon batted the dark void out of the air like it was nothing. The redirected attack flew into the forest, knocking a tree from its roots upon collision between the two objects.

Darkrai was noticeably shocked. In the hundreds, if not thousands of years Darkrai had existed for and among the countless victims felled by his nightmares alone, not once had they been able to deflect his Dark Void like it was nothing.

"Sorry Darkrai, that won't work on me a second time. You want to get to them; you'll have to get past me first!" In the same fluid motion as the first, her left arm ignited in a blaze of searing flames, reducing the gauze wrapped around her wounds to mere fuel for the fire, as those same flames cauterize her open wounds. But things didn't stop there, for a soon as the flames reached her other shoulder, they seemed drawn down her back, being led by some invisible markings. Within seconds, the flames had converged onto her back in the form of a glorious tattoo of fire, depicting the legendary bird of flames Moltres, its wings outstretch over her shoulders. For both criminals and witnesses alike, this blazing symbol had been the last thing they had seen before the quick jaws of death had closed in around them, earning Pheon the second half of her infamous title: The Black Phoenix.

If Darkrai was impressed by this display in anyway, he hid it remarkably well. Cracking his knuckles one after another on both of his deadly clawed hands; the phantom of nightmares readied himself for battle. "Fine then. You may just manage to entertain me after all."

As the moon hung high in the late night sky, a battle of shadows and flames was about begin. A battle that only one would walk away from.

**End Chapter**


	11. Dwindling Flames

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Illuminated by the early night sky, a hush had long since fallen over the area known as Midnight Forest. What had once been the home for both dark and ghost Pokémon alike had since fbeen transformed into a battlefield between two opposing forces. On one side was Darkrai, the sadistic Pokémon of nightmares who had once been a member of the legendary council of the heavens, before being exiled for his actions. It was said that any good that had once existed in him had since been snuffed out, swallowed whole by the ever increasing darkness of his soul. His very existence was governed by the pain and torment he inflicted onto others, all to feed his own selfish goals.

Opposing him was Pheon, a Blaziken with a past fueled by dark and malicious deeds. Having once carried the name of "The Black Phoenix", it had been her mission to exterminate both criminals and innocent bystanders alike, all in the name of profit and greed. Many had fallen by her claws, some guilty for their crimes, while others were just unfortunate enough to have their name appear on her hit list. Truly she had been a person as dark as the one she was now opposing.

However, there was one thing that set her apart from someone like Darkrai. Even after all that she had done, Pheon now sought redemption for her actions. In doing so, she had washed her hands of her past self, content with living out the rest of her life not as some murderous specter but as herself. Her determination to do so burned even brighter then the flames marking the engraving on her back in the shape of a phoenix, the last thing she had linking her to her past self. But no longer did it burn to destroy those who crossed her path, but to protect those she now held dear.

Both fighters locked eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move. For while the first strike offered an advantage to some, it could also lead to an early defeat. A lesser known warrior had put it best when he had said _"He who makes the first move, also makes the first mistake"_, something neither of them wanted to make. Seconds passed between them, soon turning into minutes. Above them, a solitary leaf broke free from its branch, lazily drifting towards the ground. Neither one of them noticed something as miniscule as a leaf drifting through the air, had they noticed they would have seen it hover between them, the only thing to come between them in this mental waiting game. Seconds after breaking loose, this lone leaf lightly touched ground, emitting a sound almost too small to be heard.

That single action proved to the equivalent of a gun going off. Instantaneously, both opponents acted on impulse and charged towards their opposite. Darkrai quickly gathered dark energies in his right claw, forming the basis for a Dark Pulse attack. At the same time, Pheon further ignited the flames enveloping her arm, generating a blaze worthy of being called a Fire Punch attack. Distance was no obstacle between them as the two came within striking distance of one another, launching their attacks within a fraction of a second between them.

A punch of flame and a blast of darkness collided between them. Both side fought for supremacy against the other, pushing as much power as they could muster into their attack. As it is common between these struggles for power, neither side won out in the end. The collision of both powers generated enough force to push both adversaries back as Darkrai tumbled back through the air from the force of the blow, while Pheon jumped back quick enough to avoid the main force of the shockwave, her feet skidding against the forest floor as she quickly regained her balance.

The first blow had been thrown. The battle between fire and shadow had officially begun.

* * *

Elsewhere, Wigglytuff's guild had gone from being empty and quiet to hectic in record time. An alarm had been sounded upon the discovery of Pheon's disappearance and all away teams had been immediately called back. Officer Magnezone was busy taking statements from everyone, asking them if they had seen or heard anything unusual during the time Pheon had been admitted up to and after the point Mary had discovered her missing.

The Chansey in question was in a state of shock from the whole thing. Over the years, she had played nurse and caretaker for a variety of sources, including both criminals and rescue teams alike. Not once had they escaped from her care, sure a few had tried, but all had ultimately failed. Magnezone had already questioned her shortly after he had arrived, but all he had gotten from her was that Pheon had been there one minute and gone the next. Since then she had just sat there, barely moving an inch as everything continued to occur around her. Obviously worried for her, Decibel made his way past the numerous Magnemite now hovering around the guild before taking a seat next to the shock stricken nurse.

_Come on! Say something to her! Say anything!_

"SO…you alright Mary?" Decibel nearly smacked himself right then and there. _Of course she wasn't alright! You idiot!_

However, Mary seemed completely unfazed by Decibel's moment of stupidity. In fact, she didn't even seem to have heard him. All she did was mutter to herself, "We have to find her. We just have to."

"…AND we will! Just you WAIT! Magnezone's got a HOARD of Magnemites searching for her. I'm sure one of them will- "

"No, you don't understand. If we don't find her soon…she could be in grave danger."

"HUH?" Decibel was clearly confused by this statement. "What are you-?"

"This." Mary then revealed to him what she had kept clasped in her hand the whole time: several average looking pills. In fact, they were the same ones that Mary had been carrying with her shortly before she had discovered Pheon was missing.

Sensing his further confusion, Mary went on to explain, "Pheon was badly hurt when she was brought in. While not life threatening, she had trouble moving around without experiencing bouts of pain. If not for these pills, she would have barely been able to move, let alone escape."

The gears in Decibel's head slowly clicked into place as a realization came to him. "YOU don't mean…"

Mary nodded her head in response. "Her last dosage could run out at any moment. If we don't find her before that happens…"

* * *

A blazing tree toppled over as the flames ate away at the roots previously anchoring it to the ground. As the flames consumed more and more of the bark, an orange light was cast over the still clashing combatants.

Since the beginning of this fight, Darkrai had found himself at a disadvantage. The ex-legendary had never been one for close chambered fighting, instead focusing on gaining distance between him and his enemies before knocking them out cold and feasting on their nightmares.

However, Pheon definitely didn't qualify as his regular opponent. Every attempt he had made to successfully launch a Dark Void had been swiftly knocked away, giving him barely enough time to dodge a flaming punch or kick. Despite having "retired" from her previous occupation, Pheon still managed to retain the swiftness and deadliness she had developed from years of training.

_This is turning out to be more work than I bargained for! If I don't hurry and finish off those two, they could manage to-_

A kick to his temple rocked Darkrai from his thoughts as he was struck with enough force to send him reeling, right back into and through an already ignited trunk. As he hit the ground, the extra force proved to be just enough to finally topple the bark covered giant as the tree groaned once before toppling backwards, right on top of the phantom with a resounding thud.

Having struck what she saw as a finishing blow, Pheon took a moment to catch her breath, her breathing no longer coming in clear breaths but instead in rasping gasps. She hadn't shown it in how she had fought, but Pheon was exhausted. The months since deserting the Swift Strikes had left her weak, her previously honed skills having suffered greatly from both a lack of training and her less than strenuous occupation. Not that her injuries were making things any easier, as just about every muscle in her body was gasping along with her.

However, Pheon's previous victory proved to be short-lived. From beneath the smoldering remains of the once sturdy tree, dark tendrils of shadow began to worm their way towards the surface, converging into a solitary shape above the flames. Pheon looked up from catching her breath to see Darkrai fully taking shape, the red neckpiece obscuring most of his face once more locking into place. The ex-legendary cracked his neck once he was whole again, brushing several strand of his ghostly hair in front of his face as he did so.

"Okay…that hurt."

Pheon was flabbergasted. Normally, a burning tree toppling on top of someone would have been curtains for most people. Could nothing keep this guy down? To make matters worse, she could feel herself reaching her limits, where as Darkrai looked like he could still go for a few rounds. Something that Darkrai had picked up on as well.

"What's wrong? Getting tired?" Darkrai laughed as he taunted his weakened adversary. "Well, just tell me where you hid those two and then you can take a nice long nap. I might even consider allowing you to wake up…eventually."

"Never! I'd rather die than let you hurt them any further!"

"Funny, I can arrange that as well."

Pheon growled at the living nightmare, re-igniting the dwindling flames on her wrists as she did. As flames spewed from her wrists once more, a fire-red aura began to surround her body. Her previously weak muscles burned with new intensity as her Blaze ability kicked in, filling her with new strength when she had already been pushed to her limits. Fueled by this sudden burst of energy, the tattoo of flames etched into her back quickly intensified, generating a blaze capable of spreading completely over her shoulders, running down her arms before joining with the flames from her wrists. To anyone witnessing this, it would seem like Pheon had grown wings of flames on her arms.

In the face of this sudden burst of power however, Darkrai didn't even seem the least bit worried. Instead of taking this moment to attack, Darkrai instead spread his arms out at his sides, fully exposing his chest area. He didn't need to say it for Pheon to get the message; he wanted her to give him her best shot, a challenge she was more than happy to undertake.

For the next few moments, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. One could almost hear the sound of a clock ticking away, each tic followed by a single movement.

One second….Pheon clenched her right hand into a fist.

Two seconds…That same arm was drawn back, held by as much force as her muscles could muscle,  
force that she intended to inflict onto another.

Three…four seconds… Feet scraped against the forest floor as Pheon broke into a run, flames trailing behind her with each step.

Five seconds…something finally gave out.

Like a tiny crack in the wall of a dam growing before finally given way under the pressure, pain suddenly flooded every fiber of Pheon's body. It was like she had been struck down by a bolt of lightning generated not by an electric type but by nature itself, yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Her legs buckled out from under her, every nerve in her body refusing to listen to any commands as she hit hard against the forest floor. The once prominent flames covering her body were quickly snuffed out, any power they had been feeding on sapped dry.

The pain Pheon was experiencing was beyond immense. A weaker individual would have simply passed out immediately from the force of it all, but by sheer force of will alone Pheon had managed to remain conscious. Every attempt at movement seemed to only make things worse, even lifting her head was proving to be an enduring task. In that moment, the memory of the last thing she had done before escaping from the guild came rushing back to her…

_"Here, take this." The Chansey had then offered her a small cup of several normal looking pills._

_"What are these?"_

_"Painkillers. Helps ease the tension of your injuries."_

_"Really, I'm fine!" However, her attempt to get up and walk out of the room had only been met with a jolt running through her legs, causing her to wince in pain. Mary hadn't said anything, she didn't need to as her point had already been made for her, just offered her the cup of pills once more. This time, Pheon had taken them without a word of hesitation._

_"Good. Now I want you to take it easy for now, any over strenuous movements could only prove to further worsen your injuries. A few days of rest and you should be good enough to head back home!"_

_"Thanks." Was all she had said just as the nurse Pokémon had left. But rest soon proved impossible, as just as she was about to lay her head down and catch a few z's, a strange feeling had overtaken her. You could almost say it was a sixth sense, telling her that something wasn't right. She felt her injuries pulse, almost like they were calling out to the one who had inflicted them._

_"He's back."_

Everything…everything she had done after that moment had been leading up to this. Sneaking out of the guild, running straight for and through Midnight forest and the inevitable fight with Darkrai had only succeeded in causing her injuries to worsen, held in check only by the pain killers coursing through her system, though severely strained from the sudden rush of movement. The activation of her Blaze ability had been the final straw that broke the Camerupt's back, causing them to finally give out and with them gone, nothing remained to hold the pain back that had been steadily increasing within her body which each movement. She had known all along that they would eventually give out, but the timing for such a thing couldn't have been worse if she had tried.

_No…not now! Not when I was so close!_

Darkrai laughed as Pheon tried to get back up, yet all use of her arms and legs had deserted her. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen! I guess someone up there must really be looking out for me." The ex-legendary cracked his knuckles as familiar crimson energies started to build in his open claw.

"Well then, time to say good nigh-"

Just as Darkrai was prepared to launch his signature move, the Dark Void forming in his open claw suddenly collapsed in on itself, growing steadily smaller before disappearing completely in a puff of residual energy. "The heck?" Once again he tried to form the orb of crimson energy, and again it was barely able to maintain itself for more than a second or two before it too collapsed. A third try yielded identical results, causing the phantom to outright curse in anger. His fight with Pheon had drained more of his strength then he would have hoped, coupled with his repeated assault of Dark Voids had left him momentarily incapable of generating the energies necessary for the attack.

Darkrai growled in frustration. "Fine then! If I can't knock you out directly, I'll just do it the old fashioned way! With brute force!"

Dark sparks of energy began to generate around Darkrai's hand and arm, forming a Dark Pulse in his right hand that the Nightmare legendary wasted no time in launching towards the now helpless Blaziken. The force of the attack managed to send her reeling back, her pain stricken body colliding several times with ground before she came to a rough rolling stop. She looked up in time to see Darkrai forming another Dark Pulse, both larger and stronger then the last. As much as she had been able to remain conscious for the moment, if this next attack hit her she could very well pass out. After that, there was no telling if she would ever wake up again or not. Yet no matter how hard she tried, her battered body refused to listen to her.

She had lost, beaten not once but twice by a phantom with the nerve to call himself a legendary. Her efforts had only succeeded in weakening Darkrai, not outright defeating him. She had failed, both in enacting her revenge for Darkrai's previous actions against her, but also in her plan to free Aaron and Silvia from the nightmare realm they had been cast into.

_Aaron…Silvia…I'm sorry. I did my best to stop him, but I guess my best wasn't enough. Please forgive me..._ With no strength left to defend herself, Pheon closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable final blow to be struck…

* * *

Back at the guild, one of the Magnemites assisting Magnezone burst into the room without any kind of warning. The magnets on the sides of his body were sparking erratically and he seemed rather frantic about something.

"Chief Magnezone! Chief Magnezone, zzzt!"

Magnezone immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to face his frantic subordinate. "What is it, zzzt?"

"We…we went and checked out Pheon's shop like you told us to, figuring she might have headed there, zzzt."

"Well? Was she there, zzzt?"

"No, no sign of her was found. However, during our search, we discovered something behind the building. Something we think you should see, zzzt!" Moving to the side, two more Magnemites entered, each one holding the ends of a stretcher between them. Nestled on top were a pair of Nidorans, one male and one female. Both were unconscious and in an obvious state of turmoil, evident by the pained looks on their faces.

Chatot, who had been previously conversing with the Guildmaster on the current situation at hand, glanced out of the corner of his eye as the two Magnemites carried in the stretcher. Once he saw who it was they had just carried in however, his eyes widened in total disbelief.

"Seth?" Breaking away from Wigglytuff, Chatot flew over the crowd, landing right next to the two unconscious Nidoran. "My Arceus…it is him! What in the world happened?"

"You know this individual, zzzt?"

"Ýeah, he's a client. He came in shortly before nightfall, asking for us to rescue his…sister?" It was then that Chatot noticed the second Nidoran lying next to the comatose Seth. The family resemblance was uncanny, but the realization that this was Seth's sister only came with more questions.

"But if this is his sister, then the team I sent to rescue her should have returned by now!" Chatot quickly cast his gaze over everyone present in the guild, hoping to catch a glance of white fur or black scales. "But I don't see them anywhere!"

"Tell me, who was it that requested this mission, zzzt?"

"Actually, it was Aaron and Silvia."

"Team PoisonClaw, zzzt?"

Chatot nodded his head in response. "It was the strangest thing too…Seth actually came to me and asked for them personally. He wouldn't take no for an answer either."

Officer Magnezone suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Over the years he had learned to trust such feelings and now was no exception. Using the booming voice that he was most known for, the floating officer asked everyone within earshot "Has anyone seen Aaron or Silvia recently, zzzt?"

Several teams stopped what they were doing and silently conversed between another for a second. Jet was the first to step forward. "I saw them racing back towards the guild while I was doing some last minute shopping. They seemed to be in a hurry for something."

Hector was the next to speak. "Well, there was that poker game, and then I remember they came by to check up on Pheon. After that…Ssshhh, ssshhh."

A few others remembered seeing them heading back to their home, or noticing them racing from town after retrieving their team's satchel. But no matter who he asked, no one could recall seeing either of the two since then, something that only caused Magnezone's worry of the situation to increase greatly. "Chatot, zzzt!" The sudden call of his own name slightly startled the colorful bird.

"Y-yes?"

"Quickly, where were Aaron and Silvia headed when they set out on this mission, zzzt?"

"Midnight Forest. Why, you don't think-"

Instead of letting Chatot voice his question, the head officer turned his attention back towards his subordinates. "All of you! Go gather the remaining officers from Pheon's shop and regroup at the entrance to Midnight Forest ASAP. I will meet you there as quickly as I can, zzzt!"

The Magnemite officers saluted their chief before responding with a military style "Sir, yes sir, zzzt!" and racing from the guild to go gather their fellow Magnemites. As they left, Wigglytuff stepped up to the floating chief with a confused look on his face.

"Is something wrong Magnezone?"

"Guildmaster, I fear that the members of Team PoisonClaw could very well be in danger, zzzt."

"Oh no!"

"Yes, which is why I must hurry and meet up with my men. But before I go, I would like for Mary to accompany me."

This suggestion managed to snap Mary out of her shocked state, at least momentarily. "M-me? But why me? I've never even been to Midnight Forest!"

"While that is true, you are this town's resident medic and your skills may be necessary for what lies ahead. Also, if my hunch is current, there is a probable chance we may run into Pheon as well. I find it to be no mere coincidence that she escaped from your care not even an hour after Team PoisonClaw had set out for this location, zzzt."

Mary seemed to consider Magnezone's offer for a moment. It wasn't often that she ventured outside of town for anything, and with good reason. Her talents resided in the healing arts, not in combat. Should anything happen, she'd become a sitting duck for what may lurk in the shadows of Midnight Forest. Especially since the memory of what had happened the last time she had set outside the boundaries of the town still remained fresh in her mind.

"I-I don't know…"

"Please Mary, I ask you both as the lead officer on this case and as a friend, zzzt."

"But…but…"

It was then that Decibel took that moment to make himself heard once more. "If she doesn't WANT to go, then you CAN'T make her!" Some of those present were shocked by Decibel's sudden outburst, none more-so than Mary herself. Mangezone, on the other hand, seemed rather annoyed by the Loudred's intrusion.

"Decibel, this matter doesn't concern-"

"Like hell it DOES! You call yourself Mary's friend, but have you even taken a MOMENT to consider how she feels ABOUT this?"

Decibel's words stung the senior officer deeply. He was right; Magnezone knew full well that Mary held a great fear of going out into the field. He had been there to witness the fear in her eyes during the…"incident".

"Furthermore, anyone HERE can tell you how dangerous and unpredictable it can be OUT there! What if something were to HAPPEN out there and Mary became separated from you and your officers? Then what HUH? Plus-" Decibel paused in his rant as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Mary was the one who had stopped him, though now her eyes didn't reveal a sense of fear as before.

"That's enough Decibel, you've made your point. " Stepping forward, she stopped once she was standing between Magnezone and Decibel. "I'll go with you to Midnight Forest, but only…only if Decibel can come as well."

"H-huh?" Decibel's big mouth hung open in shock.

"Somehow…somehow I'd just feel safer if you were there to protect me. Please Decibel?"

"Um…um…" Decibel quickly turned his back the large group of guild members. While some thought he was thinking hard about all this, in reality he was hoping that no one had noticed the blush steadily creeping across his face. Without turning around, he quickly responded with "S-sure, I'll go"

For the first time since this whole thing had started, Mary managed to crack a smile. "Thank you, Decibel."

"Well…" Sunny suddenly spoke up, "…if Decibel's going, then I'm going as well. We are Rescue Team partners after all!"

"Count me in as well!" Jet added.

"Me too!" Chorused Bidoof. A few more guild members echoed the response further.

Magnezone sighed, knowing that he had been beaten from all fronts. "Alright then, I guess I have no choice. Anyone coming along should go now and get there stuff together. But hurry up; we don't have much time as it is! Anyone not ready will be left behind! Got it, zzzt?"

At that, several guild members quickly ran to their rooms, intent on grabbing anything they may need for the trip through Midnight Forest. But, unbeknownst to them as they quickly gathered up supplies, Magnezone had left something unsaid during his last speech to the guild members.

_I just hope we aren't already too late…,zzzt._

* * *

In another part of Midnight Forest, a curious Murkrow flew overhead, completely oblivious to the events occurring below. All he cared about was looking for something shiny to line his nest with, the shinier the better. Murkrow were known to be vain by nature, even becoming distracted by their own reflection in a piece of broken glass or a clear enough body of water. But what they loved above all else was anything that managed to sparkle or shine in even the tiniest sliver of light. The more daring of his species had been known to plunge into large bodies of water, even fly between quarreling Pokémon several times their size, all in the pursuit of what they considered to be priceless treasures.  
As he passed over one particular area of the forest, something below caught his eye. Swooping down to examine what had seen from above, he almost fell out of the sky in shock, only a quick flutter of his wings keeping him from face-planting against the forest floor. He had hit the jackpot! A discarded Rescue Team bag lay open before him, several items having already spilled out. He didn't know what had happened to the bag's previous owners, but neither did he really care as the greedy bird began poking through the bags contents.

As it turned out, his so called "jackpot" wasn't what he had hoped for. Most of the orbs he found had been damaged when the bag had smashed into the ground, many sporting huge cracks that only managed to tarnish their initial beauty. There was a chest, but not only was it dull in appearance but it was also tightly locked, refusing to open no matter how hard he struggled and keeping him from any treasures that lay within. The rest of the bag consisted of seeds and apples, and while he did take a moment to snack on a few (nearly burning his tongue off after mistakenly eating a Blast seed in the process) he was coming up rather empty on any variable shininess.

He was just about ready to give up and continue his search somewhere else, when he noticed something he hadn't previous seen on his initial search. Among the few objects that had rolled onto the forest floor, he noticed one that was neither an orb nor food. It appeared to be a silver capsule like object, with some kind of contraption imbedded into the front. As the Murkrow cautiously poked the object with his talon, the strange thing in the center flashed a bright red, almost making him think twice about picking it up and instead flying off.

As he was about to do just that though, a stray beam of moonlight managed to cut through the thick canopy, illuminating the unusual item. The Murkrow's eyes lit up at the sight of it, sparkling like the most beautiful of pearls in the moon's rays. Without a moment's hesitation, the greedy dark type scooped it up in his talons, cawing once in joy as he lifted off into the night sky, eagerly awaiting adding such a treasure to his nest.

**End Chapter**


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